IPL 2023: Back as it should be, with potential game-shifting rules

For the first time since the pandemic struck in 2020, the Indian Premier League will run as it used to – that is, across multiple cities and with the home and away format. This gives fans of each city-based franchise the chance to watch their favourite teams in person, unlike in 2022 when a select few venues were chosen to host the IPL due to COVID-19 restrictions.

And this is what the IPL is about: an entertaining brand of T20 cricket that gives vibrant fans, many of whom are not necessarily traditional cricket lovers, the opportunity to shout and cheer and live it up. In an increasingly condensed global cricket calendar, these two months of the IPL are akin to the carnival that rolls through town and gives kids and adults alike the chance to watch something fun and out of the ordinary.

Coming on the heels of four Test matches between India and Australia and three ODIs in which the visiting team trumped Rohit Sharma’s team six months before the World Cup, Indian cricket now shifts into the 16^th season of the IPL with 74 matches across ten cities, and there is a sense of excitement not just because the league is returning to normalcy after three years, but also because of some new rule changes.

Most interestingly, even before a ball has been bowled, is how a couple of these tweaks will play out and affect team decisions. Franchises are now allowed to name their XIs after the toss has taken place, while an Impact Player has been introduced, which allows a team to add in an allrounder. Prior to the toss, teams must submit five substitutes in a 15-man squad and will be permitted to replace one player from their starting XI with one of those five substitutes during a match.

The Impact Player must be Indian, unless a team has fewer than four overseas players in their first XI, and can be introduced before the start of an innings, after an over finishes, or at the fall of a wicket or if a batsman retires. What makes these two rules, in particular, the most interesting to track is how they affect a captain’s tactics and whether they allow for mistakes to be rectified.

Other rule changes for IPL 2023 included teams being allowed to challenge wide and no-ball calls via DRS, as well as any movement by a wicketkeeper or fielder that is deemed to be unfair, resulting in a dead ball and five penalty runs. In addition, there is a new rule whereby if the bowling team cannot complete its quota of 20 overs in the stipulated time, it will be allowed to keep only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle for the time that gets extended. This promises to work better than the customary fines earlier handed over for slow over-rates, which IPL captains would happily hand over in such situations.

And then there is the actual cricket. Several questions loom large ahead of IPL 2023: Will this be MS Dhoni’s final years as a player? And if so, does the personnel acquired ahead of the season suggest, as many believe, that Chennai Super Kings will send their Thala Dhoni off with another title? How will Mumbai Indians cope with the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, and have they assembled a team to win future titles instead of one for 2023?

How will Delhi Capitals plug the massive hole created by Rishabh Pant’s absence? Can Ricky Ponting and interim captain David Warner, struggling for form and seemingly with a message for Cricket Australia, combine to deliver the franchise its first IPL trophy? Will Shreyas Iyer play at all for Kolkata Knight Riders, who look one of the weakest franchises? How will the captaincy settle with Aiden Markram, now the most important player for Sunrisers Hyderabad? Where will Royal Challengers Bangalore end up this season? Can Rajasthan Royals reverse their runners-up tag from 2022? Will KL Rahul the captain finally lead a franchise to a title? And what will Shikhar Dhawan do with Punjab Kings?

This IPL season promises plenty, so buckle up for a mad couple of months.