IPL announces new tactical substitute rule from 2023 season

The Indian Premier League have announced that they will allow tactical substitutes to be made in the 2023 edition of the tournament. The announcement comes after a successful test of this rule in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy - India's premier domestic T20 cricket tournament.

Under this rule, a team will be able to take out any player of its choosing and substitute the said player with one from the bench. This was first introduced in the Australian Big Bash League, which allowed 'X-Factors'. At the midway point of each innings, teams were allowed to choose one substitute in place of someone in the playing XI.

The IPL or the Board of



Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have not given out any details regarding the conditions of the rule, but it is expected that it will get clarified over the next couple of weeks ahead of the mini auction for the 2022 season.

The rule opens up options for a lot of tactical calls in the game. In the BBL, teams use their specialist swing bowlers up front to exploit the new ball and then exchange them with a substitute who is more inclined towards batting side of things or towards death bowling. The rule also gives chance for teams to reassess the situation of the game, the case they have read the situation wrong and played the incorrect combinations in the match.