Narine couldn’t use his initial bat and had to change it before coming as an opener.
The umpires found an illegal bat being used by Sunil Narine during the Kolkata Knight Riders’ latest fixture against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mullanpur last night. As Narine was ready to come out to bat, the umpire used the same gauge that was used in earlier matches.
As the bat entered the gauge, it couldn’t pass cleanly and was stuck midway, prompting the umpire to recheck it. After multiple attempts, the bat didn’t clear the contraption, meaning the dimension of Narine’s willow exceeded the set limit.
He was unhappy and argued with the umpire, who tested on Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s bat, which passed the measure. Consequently, Narine couldn’t use his initial bat and had to change it before coming as an opener.
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The southpaw didn’t enjoy a great outing with the willow, scoring only five runs in four deliveries, including a boundary, before getting out in the first over itself. While it’s unknown whether Narine was using an illegal bat in previous matches, this new rule of bat checking finally proved a fruitful exercise, coincidentally against a batter whose batting has shockingly been too good to accept since IPL 2024.
Even Anrich Nortje was found guilty of using an illegal bat that didn’t pass the measuring device in the same game. Consequently, he had to call for a bat change, which was also examined before allowing him to continue.
So, two KKR batters, including an opener, would have used unauthorised bats had the umpire not checked it. It’s unknown whether the duo did it intentionally, but there can be instances where batters deliberately use a thicker bat to generate more power on the shots.
Even Dale Steyn made an interesting post during the game last night, praising this new rule that checks bats’ dimensions. While he didn’t mention it explicitly, the Proteas speedster indicated that batters might be using illegal bats previously, and the impact of bat checking is visible on the scorecard.
While there have been a few big scores in IPL 2025, the overall scoring rate is not as towering as last season, when 200 was breached in every other game. Lifting the saliva ban is one factor, but checking bat dimensions could also be a contributing factor, given that two players have already been found non-compliant despite knowing about the rule beforehand.
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