Two bouncers in an over to be allowed in IPL 2024: Report

In a boost to the bowlers, the Indian Premier League (IPL) will allow two bouncers in an over starting from 2024, according to a report on ESPNCricinfo. It was given a dry run during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023-24 recently - India's domestic tournament. 

Till now, only one bouncer was allowed in an over. If the bowler attempted another one, it would be given as a no-ball and the batter would also get a free hit. Now, the bowlers are free to bowl an additional bouncer without risking the chances of it being called a no-ball.

Pacer Jaydev Unadkat, who is up for grabs at the IPL 2024 auction for INR 50 lakh, believes this move will have a huge impact on the game.

"I do feel two bouncers an over is very much useful, and I feel it's one of those things which gives the bowler an added advantage over batsmen," Unadkat told ESPNcricinfo. 

"Because, for example, if I bowl a slower bouncer… the batsman in the previous case is sure that there's no more bouncer coming. In this case, even if you bowl one slower bouncer in the first half of the over, you can still use one more [in the over]. 

"Someone who is weak against bouncers will have to be better at it and then it will give the bowler one more weapon in their armoury. So, I feel it's a very small change with a huge impact and as a bowler, I feel it's very important to have that rule."

We saw the impact player rule come into play last year as well. According to the rule, one of the players in the XI can be replaced by a substitute at any time in the game. If a team has named four overseas players in their XI, then the impact player has to be an Indian. However, if only three overseas players are named at the toss, a fourth one can be brought in as an impact player. Since its inception in 2008, the IPL has allowed not more than four foreign players a team's XI.

There were plenty of criticisms against the impact player rule as it was believed that it diminishes the value of an all-rounder. As a result, players like Venkatesh Iyer, Vijay Shankar and Shivam Dube largely played as batters for their respective sides last season.

IPL 2024 is expected to begin sometime during the end of March and will run till the end of May. The IPL committee will look to arrange the matches in a way that gives the players enough gap between the end of the tournament to the start of the T20 World Cup 2024, which will be played in the US and West Indies, starting June 2024.