ICC Begins Experimenting with Wide Ball Rule in India-Australia Series
The rules for a wide ball are about to be changed soon in international cricket. The ICC has started testing out the new rule related to the leg stump wide in the series between India and Australia. This rule was first used in the TNPL.
The rules for a wide ball are about to be changed soon in international cricket. The ICC has started testing out the new rule related to the leg stump wide in the series between India and Australia. This rule was first used in the TNPL.
The India tour of Australia has been going on, with one match still left in the ODI series. Australia has already won the series, with the last match still left to be played at Sydney Cricket Ground. During the series, fans must have noticed something off related to the wide balls going down the leg side.
due to the fact that the ICC is testing a new rule for a wide ball. And this is related especially to the wide balls coming down the leg side. The rule is currently under a trial period of six months, and if it works out well, it will be applied officially across all the games.
1. Old Rule
Before understanding what the new rule related to the wide ball could be, it is necessary to know about the old rule as well. Previously, any ball which went beyond the leg stump was declared a wide. This allowed the batsmen to play well and even go beyond the leg stumps to force the bowler to bowl there.
Eventually, the wide delivery was given, and the bowlers leaked runs in the form of extras. The batsmen received a lot of advantage with the same, and it also came as an equal disadvantage to the bowlers. They had to maintain their line towards the stumps or to the off side, to ensure that the ball doesn't go for a wide.
2. New Rule
The new rule has recently been brought by the ICC and is currently going through a testing period. With the new rule, two new lines have been added to the crease for both left and right-handed batsmen. These lines are drawn a bit close to the leg stump, and have made the wide deliveries rule more efficient.
Any ball which lies within the leg side line will not be called a wide. If the bowler bowls a delivery which goes beyond the leg side line will not be called a wide. This allows the bowlers to ensure that they won't give any extras even if they bowl more towards the leg side. Also, it benefits the batsmen as they will be able to improve their batting skills through the same.
3. Rule Brought from TNPL
Fans will be shocked to know that this new rule related to the wide balls was originally initiated in the Tamil Nadu Premier League. In the recently concluded edition of the tournament, this rule was being used. And watching the results of the same, the ICC may have been a lot interested in trying it out in international cricket.
The TNPL officials used the Laws of Cricket to declare a wide ball for the leg side. For this, there were three questions being put up on a delivery which went down the leg side of the batsmen. These questions were:
- Where was the batsman standing at the time when the ball was released?
- What was the distance between the batsman and the ball when the ball had passed them?
- What was the distance between the ball and the stumps when the ball had passed them?
Taking a look at these questions, it was determined whether a delivery will be called wide or not. On several occasions, the batsmen also used to go towards the leg side, which troubled the bowlers and caused them to bowl a wide delivery. With these questions, it ensured that the batsmen's movements do not affect the wide delivery.
4. Impact of the Rule
This rule was implemented in the Tamil Nadu Premier League, and within the first edition of its implementation, it turned out to be a success. The number of wide balls being bowled during the edition had reduced to a great extent. It can be noted with the fact that 319 wide balls were bowled in the 2023 edition, and 311 were bowled in the 2024 edition.
With the new rule coming in the 2025 edition, the number of wide balls has been reduced to 275. This was to a great extent, as the batsmen even started to focus more on how they can score runs on the leg side. In return, shots such as leg glance and flicks were also used by the batsmen to score more runs down the leg side.
The number of runs scored also increased from 9659 in 2024 to 10,048 in 2025. This shows that the new rule of a wide ball didn't just give an advantage to the bowlers; it also helped the batsmen to improve their shot selection.
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