Former Saurashtra soldier Jaydev Unadkat has called it “a very small change that has a big impact”.
ESPNcricinfo staff
IPL 2024 will allow players to bowl two bouncers over and over to facilitate a more intense competition between bat and ball. This game change was tested during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023-24, India’s T20 tournament.
Saurashtra veteran Jaydev Unadkat, who has played various sides in the IPL and recorded his starting price of INR 50 lakh (USD 60,000 approximately) for the IPL 2024 auction, has welcomed the change.
“I think two bouncers are very useful, and I think that’s one of the things that gives a bowler an advantage over the batsmen,” Unadkat told ESPNcricinfo. “Because, for example, if you shoot a slow shot … the previous hitter is sure that there is no more shot. Here, even if you shoot slowly in the first half of the race, you can still hit one more (later) Another one that he is weak against bouncers he has to be good at that and then it gives the bowler one more weapon in his armoury. As a bowler I feel it is very important to have this rule.”
Unadkat also added that fast players will now have more options to try and re-hit attackers when they die. “But at the end of the day, you have another option,” he said. “So, it was increasing (balling) at the death of the fast bowlers. It can’t be a low ball, a low ball and a bowler because of two bouncers. The batsman still has hope that the bowler can bowl the second bowler.”
The Impact Player rule, which was first introduced in IPL 2023, will remain in place. Under this rule, in addition to the playing XI, the team must name four substitutes for the toss. They can use one of the four subs as their Impact Player.
If a team names four foreign players in their starting XI, then they can bring in an Indian as an Impact Player. This is to limit the number of foreign players in the game to four per team – something that the IPL has been following since its inception. However, if a team starts with three or less foreign players in their XI, then they can bring in a foreign player as an Impact Player. But the player coming out has to be among the four substitutes named in the toss.
The Impact Player rule has reduced the value of all-rounders, such as Venkatesh Iyer, Vijay Shankar and Shivam Dube especially who played as batsmen for their respective sides last season.
The trade window is currently closed but will reopen on December 20, just after the trade deadline, and will remain open for a month before the start of the 2024 season.
IPL 2024 is scheduled to be played between March 22 and the end of May, and the final schedule will be announced after the election dates in India are finalized by the Election Commission.
