It’s time the Indian Premier League kept an eye on the clock

Reviewing wide and no-ball decisions has added to the delay

When Punjab Kings pipped Rajasthan Royals by five runs on Wednesday, in what was a worthy addition to their glorious history of dishing out humdingers, it begged the question as to how many fans sat up to witness the climax. The game concluded at 11.42 p.m., the latest finish in Indian Premier League 2023 so far.

Long nights in the IPL aren’t new. Strategising between deliveries, changing fields constantly and timeouts have long-affected timekeeping.

But this season, over-rates have been excruciatingly slow, pushing matches beyond four hours. Not a single innings that has seen the full quota of 20 overs has stuck to the stipulated 90 minutes.

In this edition, to speed up play, an in-game penalty of having one fielder fewer outside the 30-yard circle for overs not bowled within time was introduced.

But with allowances being made for referrals, injuries and things beyond the players’ control like change of ball because of dew and ball retrieval from the crowd, this rule has all but remained on paper.

Reviewing wide and no-ball decisions has added to the delay.

In the Kings-Royals match, a wide review (of Shikhar Dhawan) took an agonisingly long time, and the conclusion wasn’t to everybody’s satisfaction.