New Delhi. Cricket Rules: Keeping this in mind, the International Cricket Council (ICC) implemented the rule of ‘Wide’ ball before the 1975 World Cup, keeping in mind that cricket lovers should get to see exciting matches in ODI cricket. The purpose of implementing this rule was to discourage bowlers from throwing such balls which are far away from the reach of the batter and on which he is not in a position to make a shot. This also applies to bouncers or deliveries over the batsman’s head that are not within his reach. The ICC implemented this rule to rein in short-pitched deliveries and to curb the bowler’s tendency to bowl too far out of reach of the batter.
This rule is equally applicable in all three formats of cricket and in the event of a wide being bowled, the batting team gets one run as extra, as well as the bowler has to bowl an extra ball in lieu of that ball. In the event of the batsman being dismissed (hit wicket, obstructing the field, run out or stumped out), an extra run and extra ball will be awarded.
The rule applies more strictly in the shorter format
This rule is implemented more strictly in ODI and T20 cricket than in Test. The reason behind this is that the number of balls in short format cricket is limited and the batting team tries to increase the score rapidly by making maximum runs on each ball. In the event of a ball being declared wide by the umpire, the batsman is given hit wicket, obstructing the field, run out or stump out, he cannot be given out in any other way. Awarded to the team involved, not to an individual player. The wide ball is not counted as a legal delivery. This means that even if runs are scored on it by the batting team, this ball is not counted as a legal delivery of the over. The bowler has to bowl an extra ball for every wide ball.
Changes have been made in the rules of wide last year
Significantly, the ICC has made some changes in the rules of wide keeping in mind the short format cricket last year. Actually, in fast cricket, the batter plays improvised shots by moving here and there in the crease. In such a situation, earlier many times the umpire used to declare such balls as wide which the bowler used to throw cleverly by shifting his position to the batter. Keeping this in mind, now Law 22.1 has been amended. There is a provision in this that before declaring a ball as wide, the field umpire will also take into account the position of the batter during the shot. Considering only the distance of the ball from the wicket as the standard, now no ball can be declared wide.
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FIRST PUBLISHED : June 22, 2023, 21:08 IST