What is new in the IPL 2021 season?
The Indian Premier League 2021 season is all set to start from April 9 onwards. Defending champions Mumbai Indians are set to face Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening encounter. The IPL 2020 was held in the UAE amid the coronavirus pandemic. This season the action returns home. There are several new things that will be witnessed this time around. We present the same.
No home comforts this season
Whenever the IPL has been held in India, the concept of home and away rule in terms of venues have been there. However, this time no teams will play at their home venue. This is due to the coronavirus pandemic that's wrecked the nation. The IPL will be held across six cities - Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Delhi.
Teams to play at four venues during the league stage
Notably, each team will play at four venues during the league stage. Out of the 56 group-stage fixtures, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Bengaluru will host 10 games apiece. Meanwhile, Ahmedabad and Delhi will host eight games apiece. The playoffs and the final will take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
New time limit in place
In IPL 2021, every team will be granted 90 minutes to complete the 20 overs in a match. Each inning during any IPL match will need to be concluded within 90 minutes. This 90 minutes rule will also include two strategic timeouts of five minutes each for a side. The break between two innings shall not go past 20 minutes.
There won't be any soft signal
In IPL 2021, there won't be any soft signal by the on-field umpires. The third umpire will decide on the catches that are not clear, bump balls, and field obstructions by the batsman during a match. The on field umpire can give a soft signal if a decision has been referred but it won't have any bearing on the decision by the third umpire.
Restriction of Super Overs
The Super Overs have been restricted this season. In the case of a Super Over scenario, teams would get an hour to finish the match. However, to avoid any extra minute of stretching the match, the new rules state that in case the result of a match can't be determined even after an hour of Super Overs, both teams would share the match points.
The short run call
The third umpire can overrule the on field umpire's decision to cut a run from the batting team's total for batsmen not crossing the line of the crease while running.
