Exclusive TV Umpire Likely To Monitor No-Balls In IPL 2020

The newly-formed IPL governing council, headed by Brijesh Patel, is planning to have an exclusive TV umpire to monitor no-balls from the IPL 2020 edition

The failure of the umpires in calling no-balls created controversy in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 with critics calling for better examination procedures to pick the umpires. In IPL 2019, team India star players Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni – had locked horns with umpires in two separate matches over controversial no-ball decisions. "We are playing at IPL level, not club cricket," Kohli had said in a post-match presentation, after Royal Challengers Bangalore lost a match against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2019. "That's just a ridiculous call off the last ball. The umpires should have their eyes open." According to ESPNCricinfo, the newly-formed IPL governing council, headed by Brijesh Patel, is planning to have an exclusive TV umpire to monitor no-balls from the IPL 2020 edition. "If all goes well, during the next Indian Premier League, you could see another umpire apart from the regular umpires just to "observe" no-balls. The concept sounds weird, but this was among the issues discussed in the first IPL Governing Council meeting which was held here," a senior GC member told IANS. "We want to use the technology. We are having another umpire for only observing no-balls. There will be an umpire, who will be focused on no-balls only. And he will not be third or fourth umpire." Interestingly, the position of IPL franchises looking to head for pre-season tours to countries like the US was also discussed and even though there has been a rise in interest among franchises, the matter is set to be discussed further before a final call is taken. "The matter was the last point on the agenda and yes we did speak about the interest that has been shown by the franchises to conduct pre-season tours like in football. But we will need to discuss this further before coming to a conclusion," the GC member said. Asked about the date of the auction, the member said it would take place on December 19 in Kolkata.