Explainer: Recent rule changes sanctioned by ICC

International Cricket Council (ICC) announces new rule changes: Full list of updated Cricket laws you need to know in 2025.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has proposed a few rule changes across formats in men’s international cricket to balance the competition between bat and ball. One of the new rules pertains to concussion protocols. The teams must name their substitute players to the match referee before the start of the game. 

Each member should carry a different role, including wicket-keeping, batting, seam bowling, spin bowling, and an all-rounder. In January last year, India replaced their batting all-rounder Shivam Dube with bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana against England. Rana went on to pick three wickets to win the contest. 

However, from now on, the replacement will come from the already nominated players of the side. If the replacement player gets concussed and needs to be exchanged, then the referee will consider a player outside the five nominations. 

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ICC approves change of two-ball rule in ODIs 
Presently, there are two new balls used per innings in men’s ODIs- one at either end. However, the revised conditions will push the teams to use two new balls from the start of an inning until the end of the 34th over. After that, the bowling team can choose one of the two balls to use at both ends, from 35 to 50. 

The aim behind the rule is to bring ‘the balance between bat and ball.’ In case of a reduced game to 25 overs per side, the sides can use only one new ball for the entire innings. This will bring back the reverse swing into the game in the middle overs. The spinners will also get help off the turf using the old ball. 

Stop clock in Test cricket and DRS protocol for secondary review 
One of the biggest talking points of the longest format is the over-rate. Due to the penalty of slow overs, England found themselves on the receiving end of successive WTC cycles. But a year after introducing the stop-clock in white-ball formats, the ICC is set to use it in the red-ball games. 

According to the rule, the fielding side must be ready to bowl the next over within a minute of the previous over’s completion. The umpires will give them a maximum of two warnings before imposing a five-run penalty. Warnings will be reset to zero after each block of 80 overs. Interestingly, it has already been set in play since the start of the WTC 2025-27 cycle. 

The ICC has also tweaked the DRS protocol for secondary reviews. For example, a batter is given ‘caught behind,’ and he asks for a review. The Ultra Edge shows that the ball brushed the pads without any contact of the bat. After the catch is ruled out, the third umpire moves to the LBW dismissal. 

So far, in such cases, the default decision for the LBW was not out. That means if the ball-tracking comes down to the umpire’s call, the batter will not get dismissed. But in the updated rule, the default decision will read ‘out.’ And if the review gets to the umpire’s call, then the batter would be ruled out. 

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Fairness of catches for no-ball and deliberate short-run  
As of now, if both the on-field umpires are not sure about the fairness of a catch and discuss it, the TV umpire can meanwhile rule it out as a ‘no-ball.’ For that, there was no need for the third umpire to check the fairness of the catch after signalling it as a no-ball. However, in the updated conditions, the third umpire will review the catch. 

If it’s a fair one, then the batting side will only get the extra run for the no-ball. However, if the catch is not clean, then the batting side will get the runs the batters have taken. 

Another change of rules has come in the short run. So far, if one of the batters is caught taking a deliberate short run, the batting team would suffer a five-run penalty. But after the updated rules, along with the penalty, the umpires will ask the fielding side to decide which batter they want on strike. 

While the ban on the saliva use continues, the ICC reckons that it’s no longer mandatory to change the ball if a player is found using saliva. Going forward, the umpires will change the ball if its conditions have changed drastically like if it gets too wet, there is more shine. The final decision is entirely on the standing umpires. 

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ICC tweaks powerplay rules for shortened T20Is 
One of the key points of alteration by the ICC has come in the powerplay rule of the T20Is. The length of the first six overs will now be rounded to the nearest ball instead of the nearest over. 

As of now, the first six overs of the powerplay constitute 30% of the permitted 20 overs. If the game gets shortened, then the rounding to the nearest over can make a huge difference. Here is the table of how many powerplay overs a team will get in a short T20I. 

The table has been used in the T20 Blast in England for many years. Ending the powerplay in between an over has not caused any difficulty, and the ICC has accepted it for the men’s T20Is. 

The ICC has asked the Boards to try a new rule in their domestic first-class cricket. If a team loses a player due to a serious external injury, then they can field a full-time replacement to perform the role of the participant. However, it has to be a like-for-like replacement. This would not apply to the players suffering hamstring niggles.

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