Why are umpires checking bat sizes in IPL 2025?

The umpires inspected the bats of Phil Salt of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Shimron Hetmyer and Nitish Rana of the Rajasthan Royals during an IPL 2025 match in Jaipur. At Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Rajat Patidar won the toss and chose to field, and Yashasvi Jaiswal's 47-ball 75 helped RR post 173-4. When Jaiswal was out at 126-3 after 16 overs, Hetmyer took over.

Umpire Nitin Menon approached Hetmyer as soon as he left and looked at his bat, presumably to make sure its measurements met the rules. When Hardik Pandya batted during Sunday's Delhi Capitals vs. Mumbai Indians game in Delhi, the same thing occurred.

After Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed, Pandya came out to bat at number five. The umpire checked his bat's breadth to make sure it complied with the tournament's rules.

To ensure that Pandya's bat passed through it easily, the umpire was observed running a gauge the full length of the bat. This was the third time during the day that the umpire had stepped in to assess the bat's width.

Why were the umpires checking the bats?

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has imposed a limit for bat dimensions in the tournament's playing criteria, which says that the width shall not exceed 4.25 inches (10.8 centimeters.).

Clause 5.7 of the IPL playing conditions deals with bat size limits. It states, “The overall length of the bat, when the lower portion of the handle is inserted, shall not be more than 38 in/96.52 cm. The blade of the bat shall not exceed the following dimensions: Width: 4.25in / 10.8 cm. Depth: 2.64in / 6.7 cm. Edges: 1.56in / 4.0cm. Furthermore, it should also be able to pass through a bat gauge.

Therefore, the umpires are randomly checking the bats of the players if they feel that regulations are not being followed.

What if the bat violates the restrictions?

Article 2.20 of the IPL Code of Behavior (Conduct That Is Against the Spirit of the Game) is "intended to cover all types of conduct that are contrary to the spirit of the game and that are not specifically and adequately covered by the specific offenses set out elsewhere in this Code of Conduct."

While subjective, the article notes that "by way of example," it may, "depending upon the seriousness and context of the breach," prohibit (among other things) "the use of an illegal bat or illegal wicket-keeping gloves."

If found guilty, the offender is liable to be charged with any of the four levels of offense.

A Level 4 offense may result in “the imposition of twelve (12) suspension points or a suspension for a fixed period of time ranging between, at a minimum, the lesser of the equivalent of twelve (12) suspension points and one (1) year, up to a maximum of a lifetime suspension.”

According to the commentators on the Hindi broadcast of the match, umpires typically inspect bats before the game, but since players now use any one of their four to five bats, officials are now required to check bats as soon as batters reach the crease or ask for a change from the dugout.

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