Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 21 (ANI): Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign opener between defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), RCB head coach Andy Flower and KKR spinner Varun Chakravarthy spoke on new rule changes in the competition, which removes the ban on saliva and allows change of ball in the second innings of a match in case dew comes into play.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made some significant changes in the rules for IPL 2025, which begins on March 22. BCCI has introduced rule changes in IPL 2025, including the lifting of the saliva ban, the continuation of the Impact Player rule and the slow over rate ban cannot be imposed on Captains anymore. The removal of the saliva ban, introduced as a COVID-19 precautionary measure, is a major move. The rule against using saliva was introduced in May 2020 as a temporary measure, but the ICC made it permanent in September 2022.

Several fast bowlers have opined that the ban impedes their effectiveness by not allowing reverse swing, which has become uncommon in white-ball cricket, including ODIs, where two new balls are utilized. Bowlers were only allowed to use sweat to shine the bowl. From time to time, bowlers have raised their voices to revise the saliva ban, including Indian pace veteran Mohammed Shami during the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy.

Also, in order to help bowlers counter the effects of dew on the pitch, the league has also decided to introduce a rule allowing a change of ball after the 11th over of the second innings during the evening matches. Any requests for additional ball changes will be made on the discretion of the on-field umpires. All these decisions were taken during a meeting of all ten captains on Thursday, which was called to discuss the playing conditions.

Speaking on the new rules, Flower said during the pre-match presser at Kolkata that he likes the rule change on ball change.

'I have always wondered why there was this reticence on the umpires' part to change the ball, to make it an even and fair contest, and that is what we are looking for. You know, the people that make the rules under which we play the game of cricket, and ground staff preparing pitches, we are always looking for a fair balance between bat and ball, and in conditions where dew does affect the game significantly, think that is a really good rule change, and about time,' he said.

Chakravarthy also feels that a second ball during the second innings could dictate how a match goes as spinners bowl their overs, and it could actually help them.

'The dew part where you can change the ball might help the spinners and the moment they change the ball, the 11th, 12th and 13th [overs] it could be a spinner bowling because the ball would not be that wet. So that change is what I am forecasting here. That's what I can see,' he added.

However, both Flower and Varun do not feel that the saliva ban would not help bowlers a lot.

Flower spoke: 'The saliva part, I mean, I do not see it as being that important. We will see if it has an effect, as long as not too many people all of a sudden become huge fans of sugary sweets,' he added.

'I do not think that's going to make much difference regarding the saliva,' said Chakavarthy.

Squads:

-Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Liam Livingstone, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Swapnil Singh, Lungi Ngidi, Romario Shepherd, Manoj Bhandage, Rasikh Dar Salam, Nuwan Thushara, Jacob Bethell, Suyash Sharma, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chikara, Abhinandan Singh

-Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Spencer Johnson, Vaibhav Arora, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Manish Pandey, Moeen Ali, Anrich Nortje, Rovman Powell, Anukul Roy, Mayank Markande, Chetan Sakariya, Luvnith Sisodia. (ANI)