The International Cricket Council (ICC) is considering a change to the two-ball rule in ODIs. At a meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe this week, the Cricket Committee has proposed using only one ball from the 35th over of the innings. Also, a 60-second stop clock may be implemented in Tests.
Men’s Cricket Committee chairman Sourav Ganguly has recommended the introduction of this rule. According to this, each innings will start with two new balls, as it is now. But the bowling team will have to decide after the 34th over which ball they want to play with.
In the first meeting, the committee had considered changing the ball after 25 overs. But it did not get support from many members. They said that it would be better to decide which ball should be continued to be used only after using the ball for 17 overs. The rule of two new balls has been in effect in ODIs since October 2011. Currently, two new balls are used from both sides in ODIs. In this case, the ball remains hard, which gives batsmen the opportunity to score runs freely.
The board may announce its decision on this at the end of this month.