International Cricket Board introduces new rule for playing conditions: Saliva ban made permanent, over-rate penalty and many more

The International Cricket Board has tweaked many strings in its rule book which will be implied from 1st October 2022. The Men’s T20 World Series in Australia will be played following the new rules. The Men’s Cricket Committee led by Sourav Ganguly proposed the changes to the playing conditions in MCC’s updated third edition of the Code of the Laws of Cricket, 2017. 

"It was an honour chairing my first meeting of the International Cricket Board," Ganguly said. "I was pleased with the productive contribution of the Committee members which resulted in key recommendations being made. I thank all members for their valuable input and suggestions." said the Indian Cricket Board protagonist.

The main changes in the rules are as follows:

• Saliva ban made permanent: The COVID-19 pandemic forced cricket to be played behind closed gates within bio bubbles. Also, there were restrictions such as the application of saliva to polish the ball’s surface. After a long-term pandemic period of two years and still continuing fear of the spread, the International Cricket Board has decided to permanently prohibit the usage of saliva to shine the ball. Bio Bubbles are not important anymore as there is a low rate of cases these days and also most individuals are completely vaccinated.
• The new batter takes strike: This rule was implemented earlier in March this year, which stated that whether two batters cross each other or not before the catch is taken, the new batter who comes to bat at the fall of a wicket will take the strike.
• Non-Striker’s Run Out- Running out at the non-striker’s end often sparks debate concerning the spirit of the game. The system affecting a dismissal has now been transferred into the ‘run-out’ section from the ‘unfair play’ section. The method of this kind of dismissal is known as ‘Mankading’ and will now be considered a legitimate run-out. 
• A penalty of Five runs for unfair field movement- Any unjustified or deliberate movement by the fielding team when the bowler is making his runup could now lead to a penalty of five runs which is allocated to the batting team and the ball will also be declared dead. 
• Timer in Tests and ODI’s- In earlier days, ODIs and Tests’ batters had three minutes to walk out at the fall of a wicket to take the strike. But now, there is a slight change in the rule, the time has now been reduced to 2 minutes. In both the formats now the batter has to take the strike within two minutes of the dismissal. The time span in T20Is i.e. 90 seconds remains unchanged.
• Penalty on Over-Rate- The in-match penalty was introduced in T20Is in the month of January this year. As per this rule, the fielding team must be in a position to bowl the first ball of the last over of the innings by the assigned time. If they are late and are not in such a position and are running late as per the timings, one fewer player will be allowed outside the 30 yards circle for the remaining part of the innings. This rule will also be implemented in ODIs as well. This rule will come into effect after the completion of the Men’s Cricket World Series, Super League 2023. 
• No-ball for drifting out of the pitch: If a batter advances beyond a certain confined area of the pitch to play a delivery, it will be adjudged as a no-ball. Some part of the batter or the bat must be within the pitch to avoid the penalty.