The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced a set of fresh regulations for the upcoming 2025-26 domestic cricket season. As the Duleep Trophy starts the season on August 28, it also represents the beginning of the season's new operations with the governing body. The governing body anticipates improving competitive balance, uniformity with match formats, enhanced domestic standards, and the ability of players to adapt to changing demands created by modern-day cricket in the proposed reforms.

BCCI has prioritized improving the domestic structure's administrative efficiency while ensuring operations are in line with international regulations. These changes are likely to bring a professional face to domestic cricket in India, with batting and bowling challenges that are closer to what players may experience when representing their country. The 2025-26 season is when the rules will become visible through the Duleep Trophy, thereby ensuring the interest of players, selectors, and fans alike as it represents the first competition with the new operation modifications.

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Fielding captain to decide in case of short runs

As per the new BCCI regulation for domestic cricket, if a batter deliberately takes a short run, the fielding captain will now have the authority to decide which batter faces the next delivery. This marks a change from the earlier rule, where the batting side would automatically be penalized with five runs for such an act. However, if a batter simply aborts a run attempt midway without the intention of gaining an unfair advantage, no penalty or action will be enforced under the updated law.

“A deliberate short run is an attempt for batters to appear to run more than one run, while at least one batter deliberately does not make good their ground at one end. Batters may choose to abort a run, provided the umpire believes that there was no intention by the batter concerned to deceive the umpires or to score the run in which they didn’t make their ground,” the new rule said.

Single ball rule to apply after 34th over in Vijay Hazare Trophy

The International Cricket Council (ICC) recently announced its decision to phase out the use of two new balls in One Day Internationals (ODIs) to revive the art of reverse swing. Following this move, the BCCI has also implemented the same change in India’s premier domestic 50-over competition, the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Under the revised rule, teams will now continue with only a single ball once the innings crosses the 34th over, aiming to restore balance between bat and ball while encouraging bowlers to use reverse swing effectively.

“Each fielding team shall have two new balls for its innings to be used in alternate overs, i.e. one from each end for overs 1 to 34. At the end of over 34, the fielding team will choose one of the two balls from the innings to be used for all the remaining overs of the innings. The other ball will be added to the stock of replacement balls for the innings,” the law stated.

Substitutions allowed in case of serious injuries

During the fourth England vs India Test 2025 in Manchester, Rishabh Pant bravely batted with a broken toe, while England’s Chris Woakes came out with a dislocated shoulder. These events have sparked across the globe debates, with several former players as well as commentators requesting for an official injury replacement rule. However, some, including England captain Ben Stokes, opposed its introduction. Despite differing opinions, the BCCI has decided to implement an injury replacement law in India’s upcoming domestic multi-day tournaments, ensuring teams have fair options when players suffer serious on-field injuries.

“If a player sustains a serious injury during the course of the relevant match, a Serious Injury Replacement may be permitted in the following circumstances. The serious injury must have been sustained during play and within the playing area described in clause,” read the new playing conditions.