Staying vigilant: On-field umpires check bat size to prevent unfair advantage

In a departure from the norm, on-field umpires have started making random checks on the dimensions of the bats during the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to prevent players from gaining an unfair advantage.

Checking the bat dimensions is a prevalent protocol but till the last edition, the process was followed inside the confines of the dressing room.

However, the BCCI, in its bid to stay more vigilant in times of brutal power-hitting, has allowed the match officials to check any piece of willow if they deem require, even during a live game.

A former BCCI umpire, who has officiated in more than 100 IPL games and many international matches, also expressed his surprise at the development.

“Umpires keep a house-shaped bat gauge. If the bat passes through that gauge, it is deemed acceptable. Until now, we have all performed these checks in the dressing room before the innings. Players would submit their bats, and the check was done there,” the former umpire said on condition of anonymity.

“Now the question is, did any player provide one bat for checking but used another on the field? If that has happened, then this protocol is welcome. Players always carry multiple bats, and while weight can vary, the height, width (bat face), depth (middle of blade), and width of the edge has to be within specified limits prescribed by the ICC,” he added.

As per specified dimensions, the width of bat face should not exceed 4.25 inch (10.79 cm). The thickness of the middle of the bat (bulged part) cannot exceed 2.64 inch (6.7 cm).

The maximum width of the edge cannot surpass 1.56 inch (4 cm). The height of the bat cannot be more than 38 inch (96.4 cm) from top of handle to the base.

In the past few days, Rajasthan Royals’ Shimron Hetmyer, Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Phil Salt, and Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya’s bats were measured with a bat gauge on the Field Of Play (FOP).

For the record, all bats cleared the test.

The BCCI, however, was tight-lipped when asked if there was a violation of willow dimension, prompting the random checks.

A little extra thickness or a bit more wood on the edge can make a significant difference these days where even mishits soar into the night sky and end up 10 rows into the stadium galleries at various grounds.

Before the start of Monday’s match between Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants, a total of 525 sixes had already been hit so far in the ongoing season. West Indies’ batter Nicholas Pooran alone has hit 31 of them.