IPL 2025 New Rules: BCCI Lifts Saliva Ban in IPL, Introduces Second New Ball to Counter Dew Factor

The BCCI has made a big change to deal with the dew problem in evening IPL matches. Now, a fresh ball will be used in the second innings to make things fairer. The board explained this new rule to the team captains and managers during a meeting in Mumbai on Thursday, March 20.

A second ball will be introduced after the 11th over of second innings in evening matches to reduce the effect of dew, which often influences night games. This rule will only apply to evening matches and not to afternoon matches starting at 3:30 PM IST.

The ball won’t be changed automatically. It will be up to the umpires to decide if the ball needs to be changed based on how much dew is on the field. "The umpires will check the amount of dew and decide whether to change the ball or not," a source told Cricbuzz.

The impact player rule will continue in the upcoming IPL season. However, the ban on using saliva to shine the ball has been lifted after all the team captains agreed to it. The saliva ban was introduced in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent the spread of the virus. Recently, there has been growing demand to lift the ban, with Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami also supporting the idea during the Champions Trophy.

"We always keep requesting the authorities to allow us to use saliva so that swing and reverse comes into play during matches," he had said.

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