BCCI Domestic rules: Retiring midway equals dismissal unless batter is injured

As the new domestic season in India is set to kick off on Friday (October 11) with the first round of Ranji Trophy, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made a few significant changes to the playing conditions.

To start with, the BCCI says if a batter retires for any reason without an injury, he will be deemed out immediately. In effect, he cannot bat in that innings even if the captain of the opposing team has no problem.

The communique to the state teams, sent out on Thursday evening, says, "A] 25.4.3 Batter retiring for any reason other than injury, illness or unavoidable cause: He will be considered as dismissed immediately on retirement and will NOT have the option of returning to bat even with the consent of the opposing captain."

The note on this specific clause ends with an assertion: "Applicable for all BCCI domestic matches." This new rule will be applicable for all multi-day matches and all limited-over matches. Interestingly enough, the BCCI adds, it can apply even to Super Over situations.

On the bowling front, if a team has applied saliva on the ball, the ball has to be changed immediately besides imposition of penalties.

The BCCI has also tweaked the rule on aborting a run. The new revised clause says, "Once the batters decide to abort a run after crossing and a boundary results from an overthrow before they have re-crossed, only boundary 4 shall be scored. The BCCI has said it is in line with the agreement reached during ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

Another change pertains to CK Nayudu competition and points allocation. The new rule mention two scenarios. Scenario 1: "Team 'A' batting 1st is all out for 398 in 98 overs in the 1st innings (They will get 4 batting points). Team 'A' while fielding gets awarded 5 penalty runs as a result of which Team A's score now becomes 403 in 98 overs. Team 'A' will now get 5 batting points."

Scenario 2: "Team 'A' batting 1st is all out for 398 in 100.1 overs in the 1st innings (They will get 4 batting points). Team 'A' while fielding gets awarded 5 penalty runs as a result of which Team A's score now becomes 403 in 100.1 overs. They will not get the 5th Batting Point."