What is Slow Over Rate Penalty in IPL 2023?

For a tournament which boasts about being the biggest in its field around the world, it is quite dejecting to see Indian Premier League matches touch the four-hour mark on a regular basis. For a format which was basically designed to save fans’ time, last-ball finishes running past midnight don’t do justice to its very existence.

Speaking of the ongoing 16th season, players allowed to challenge on-field umpires’ decision around wide and no-balls has also become a time-consuming task.

IPL 2023, mind you, is not solely to be blamed for this. Numerous previous seasons of the IPL have been no better when it comes to dealing with slow over rates. Imposing monetary fines on captains in a cash-rich league have hardly yielded any improvement over the years. In some cases, the penalty is not even 1% of what some of these captains earn in the IPL.

Slow Over Rate Penalty in IPL 2023

First things first, Slow Over Rate comes into play when a fielding team is not able to bowl its 20 overs within a stipulated time period. For the unversed, an IPL team is expected to bowl 20 overs within a 90-minute period. This one-and-a-half-hour consists of both an 85-minute playing time and a five-minute slot for two strategic timeouts of 150 seconds each.

The above mentioned deadline can be elongated in matches with interruptions. The very nature of cricket plays spoilsport as the game generally comprises multiple delays such as dismissals, DRS, injuries, etc.

Hence, if a team takes more than 90 minutes for bowling 20 overs in an uninterrupted IPL match (which is a rarity), its captain faces a fine of INR 12 lakh. Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis is the only captain to have been penalized for slow over rate this season.

A second-time offender has to pay INR 24 lakh as a penalty. With an instance of slow over rate not possible without the whole team’s support, the remaining 10 players are also fined this time round. Financial punishment for them is INR 6 lakh or 25% of match fee, whichever is lower.

Any captain, who is a third-time offender, has to pay INR 30 lakh as a fine apart from to facing a one-match ban. It was due to the same reason that Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had scolded his bowlers after their first home match against against Lucknow Super Giants last week. The remaining 10 players are fined INR 12 lakh or 50% of match fee, whichever is lower.

Is There Any Fielding-Related Penalty in IPL 2023?

On paper, yes. One of the few rule changes introduced before IPL 2023, it is yet to be brought into execution this season due to reasons beyond one’s understanding.

It was in January last year that ICC (International Cricket Council) had introduced curbs to solve the Slow Over Rate issue in the shortest format.

According to the development, any team which falls short of overs in an uninterrupted match has to field with only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle for the remaining number of overs (same in IPL 2023). A few months later, the rule had successfully made its way into ODI cricket as well.

One continues to wait for the day when umpires will behave strictly to put such a punishment into practice in IPL 2023. Readers must note that a team has to bowl 20 overs within a 79-minute period in the Big Bash League.