ICC’s new ODI rules relieve Bangla bowlers

The decision of the International Cricket Council (ICC) to change One-Day International (ODI) rules on field restrictions has brought relief to Bangladeshi bowlers.

At its annual conference in Barbados, the ICC made a number of changes to the 50-over format, including the scrapping of batting powerplays. Among them, the requirement to deploy catching fielders within the 30-yard circle in the first 10 overs has been dropped and five fielders will be allowed outside of it in the last 10 overs, rather than the previous maximum of four, reports bdnews24.com.

The rules will come into effect from July 5. Veteran Abdur Razzak, who has over 200 ODI wickets, has witnessed many rule changes during his 10-year career. The left-arm orthodox spinner saw multiple changes in <g data-gr-id="22">powerplay</g> application, <g data-gr-id="26">introduction</g> of <g data-gr-id="23">free-hits</g>, appearance and disappearance of <g data-gr-id="24">super-subs</g>.

“All changes over the last decade have favoured the batsmen as if cricket is only batsmen’s game. Now it seems ICC at least thinks about the bowlers. Something needed to be done to save bowlers as it was becoming too one-sided and anything one-sided becomes monotonous,” said Razzak.

The previous rule of placing maximum four fielders outside the circle during the batting powerplay put spinners in a tight spot as batsmen scored boundaries at will. “The spinners faced much trouble. 

Wicket-taking spinners were becoming rare in ODIs as restricting runs was becoming their main concern. Batsmen used to get <g data-gr-id="31">mental</g> advantage of having only four fielders outside. They could play shots at will while new batsmen could settle in quickly. The change of rules is somewhat good for spinners too,” said Razzak.