‘Two Bouncers Per Over’: BCCI Announces Major Rule Change for Mushtaq Ali Trophy; IPL Next? – News18

The BCCI held its 19th Apex Council meeting in Mumbai on Friday and made a host of announcements including a couple of rule changes it plans to introduce for its domestic T20 tournament Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

To restore some balance between batters and the bowlers in the T20 format, the board has decided to allow two bouncers per over.

So far, as is the rule in the format, only one bouncer is permitted.

“The BCCI has decided to introduce two bouncers per over in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy to balance the contest between bat and ball,” the board said in a media release on Saturday.

Considering how the Impact Player Rule made its way into the Indian Premier League after successfully being implemented in SMAT, the two bouncers per over rule could make its way into the franchise tournament.

Meanwhile, BCCI has tweaked the Impact Player rule which it first introduced in SMAT 2022.

The modified version, used for IPL 2023, will now be used in the upcoming edition of SMAT as well.

“The teams will have to select their playing XI along with 4 substitute players before the toss,” BCCI said.

In the previous season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, a team could only use the Impact Player before the 14th over of an innings. However, the compulsion has been removed.

“The teams can use the Impact Player at any time during the match,” the released stated