As Hardik came to bat, the umpire used a gauge to measure the width of his bat, which caught the users’ attention.
An interesting event transpired when Hardik Pandya came to bat against the Delhi Capitals (DC) last night. As he came to bat, the umpire used a gauge to measure the width of his bat, which caught the users’ attention.
After a quick inspection, the willow passed through the gauge, and Hardik Pandya was ready to bat. This is a new rule in IPL, where the umpires must check the bat size of every batter to ensure they don’t gain an unfair advantage by using a bat whose dimensions exceed the set limits.
According to clause 5.7 of the IPL Playing Conditions, “The overall length of the bat, when the lower portion of the handle is inserted, shall not be more than 38 in/96.52 cm. The blade of the bat shall not exceed the following dimensions: Width 4.25in / 10.8 cm. Depth 2.64in / 6.7 cm. Edges: 1.56in / 4.0cm. Furthermore, it should also be able to pass through a bat gauge.”
While every batter has passed this test, the offender, if charged guilty, can be charged with any of the four offence levels. A Level 4 offence includes suspension points and a ban for a specific period or even a lifetime.
One thing that could have been done to avoid delay during the game is checking the bat of every batter before the start of a fixture. However, batters use 4-5 bats nowadays, and it’s arduous to check as many bats of every batter before the start.
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Hence, the umpires simply use the gauge to test the bat a batter comes out with in the game. This reduces extra work while ensuring that the right bat is checked to prevent batters from getting any unfair advantage.
Even during the day game between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the bat checking was constant, and umpires checked most batters’ willow, including the bat of Phil Salt. No player was found guilty of using a faulty bat, so no one was charged.
Several new rules have been implemented in IPL 2025, which has helped to retain the balance between bat and ball, as depicted by relatively lower scores than the last season. The use of saliva is another significant change, allowing speedsters to get some reverse swing in the second half of the innings and restrict batters from going berserk.
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