What is the new bouncer rule introduced in IPL 2024?

The 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) will kick off with defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) taking on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Chepauk Stadium on March 22.

Amid the thrills and spills of watching the action on the field unfold, fans also will have the experience of watching the new bouncer rule implemented for the first time in league history. According to the new playing conditions, a bowler can bowl two bouncers per over.

The move was tested in the latest Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) late last year to maintain a balance between bat and ball.

For context, the International Cricket Council (ICC) rules allow only one bouncer per over in T20Is but two in Tests and ODIs.

As per the laws, a legal bouncer is a ball passing over the shoulder of the batter but below the head. Should the delivery sail above the head, it will be deemed wide despite being counted as one bouncer for the over.

The move further removes the predictability a batter enjoys and keeps the bowlers in the contest in what has become a largely high-scoring era of T20 cricket.

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Several former pacers welcomed the two-bouncer rule

The two-bouncer rule received a thumbs-up from prominent former pacers like Laxmipathy Balaj, Irfan Pathan, and Dale Steyn.

Bowlers have often been in hiding over the last few years, thanks to the massive bats and shorter boundaries, resulting in even mishits traveling for maximums.

In a conversation with Cricbuzz, Balaji said:

"It's an excellent move. It will be a good addition to the armory of fast bowlers and will provide bowlers, captains, and coaching staff with something to strategize and work with for a particular batsman. It will also make the contest between bat and ball much more balanced."

Meanwhile, Balaji's India teammate from the 2000s, Irfan Pathan, felt pacy bowlers could use the new rule to good effect against Indian domestic batters.

"I feel that all the overseas bowlers and India bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, or those who have decent speed will take advantage against Indian domestic batters, especially those who are new in the team," Pathan told Indian Express.

Even one of the most accomplished bowlers in cricket history, Dale Steyn, was pleased with the introduction of the second bouncer in an over in the IPL. He told ESPNCricinfo:

"If you get [the one] bouncer out of the way too early in the over, the next ball that immediately comes to your mind is the yorker, because now the batter knows you can't bowl a length ball and he is not expecting anything short. Everything is now going to be in his half. With a bouncer, setting the field is much easier to control: you know the shot is potentially going to third man, deep square, fine leg."

The two-bouncer rule could aid pacers, particularly in a venue like Chinnaswamy Stadium, where the boundaries are short and the ball travels a long way. It will make for interesting viewing in the 2024 IPL how pacers use this to their benefit and limit the big-hitting batters.