Overview
- Sunil Gavaskar publicly pressed the BCCI to make matches “crisper and tighter,” saying officials must clamp down on delays that are slowing the IPL.
- He proposed cutting the wicket changeover from two minutes to one, with penalty runs if a batter is still not ready after warnings.
- He urged a hard cap on who can step onto the ground, allowing only two reserve players and two coaches during play or strategic time-outs to protect the field’s sanctity.
- He called for the first ball after a strategic time-out to be bowled exactly at 2 minutes 30 seconds, backed by run penalties for any overrun.
- He argued fines do not deter IPL teams and asked for penalties that affect results, noting that current SOPs and over-rate timers, even with five-run sanctions, have not stopped games from spilling well past three hours, including one MI–RCB match that lasted 4 hours 22 minutes.