The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 is all set to commence from March 22 with the opening match between defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The first match will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and will be accompanied with a grand opening ceremony ahead of the match. On March 20, Saturday, the captains of all the ten franchises travelled to Mumbai o feature in the captain's meet where several rules and regulations were discussed for the upcoming IPL 2025 season and at the same time the captains posed with the IPL trophy. In the meeting, BCCI introduced some new rules for the season. IPL 2025 Captain's Meet: Skippers of All Indian Premier League Franchises Pose Alongside Trophy Ahead of New Season (See Pics).

BCCI has revoked the ban on the use of saliva and has introduced a new rule of a second ball for the second innings of a match. There were already talks on giving the bowlers something to work on and the usage on saliva gives them the cushion to prepare the ball for a bit of reverse swing in the later part of the innings. The decision to lift the ban on the use of saliva was more or less on the cards considering that a player of the calibre of Mohammed Shami had urged the authorities to do away with the rule.

Meanwhile, the use of two balls during a match attracted a lot of interest. The second ball will come into play after the 11th over of the second innings in an IPL match. The primary objective of this rule is to counter the impact of dew that often affects night-time matches. There are several venues in India where heavy dew comes at the evening and that makes defending scores extremely difficult and the toss becomes the decider. This rule here can bring some parity. As for the change of ball, the BCCI has left the decision to the discretion of the umpires. The umpires will determine whether the ball needs to be changed. They will decide based on the presence of dew.

The ban on the use of saliva was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic when the ICC imposed restrictions to mitigate the spread of the virus. However, with the pandemic now behind us, there have been increasing calls to lift these restrictions. The BCCI has also revised the playing conditions for the upcoming season of the IPL, as it has decided that captains will no longer face match bans for slow over rates. Instead, they will be penalised with demerit points, with a ban being enforced only in extreme cases.

According to Cricbuzz,  the BCCI informed the think-tanks of the 10 franchises that there will be no match bans for slow over rate offences. Instead, a system similar to that of the ICC has been introduced, with demerit points assigned to the captain based on the severity of the offence. These demerit points will carry over for a period of three years.

"The captain will be penalised with demerit points but will not face a match ban for the slow over-rate," says an internal communique seen by Cricbuzz. The Level 1 offence will be charged 25 to 75 percent match fees with demerit points which will be calculated for next three years. "A Level 2 offence, if exactly deemed serious, will result in four demerit points. Shah Rukh Khan vs Virat Kohli? Fans React to Baadshah vs King Poster Ahead of KKR vs RCB IPL 2025 Opening Match.

"For every 4 demerit points accumulated, the match referee can impose a penalty, either in the form of a 100 percent fine or additional demerit points. These demerit points could potentially lead to a match ban in the future," a source in the know said. "But for slow overrate it won't be a match ban (immediately)." Earlier Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya were two captains who received a match ban for slow over-rates. Additionally, the BCCI has stated that the Impact Player Rule, which has had its fair share of critics, will be reviewed after the 2027 edition, which means the rule will stay for the current IPL cycle

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 20, 2025 11:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).