The International Cricket Council's (ICC) revamped playing rules, which came into effect from September 28, will bring about some interesting changes in the way the sport is played.
However, the ongoing India-Australia limited-overs series will continue to be played as per the old rules.
All of these rules will come into effect from the two upcoming Test series - when South Africa host Bangladesh and Pakistan take on Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates.
Another rule which will surely challenge the skills of batsmen is the restriction on the dimensions of the bat, since the massive pieces of willow which have made even mishits go for maximums will be a thing of the past, making timing and skill that much more important.
There will also be changes to the Decision Review System (DRS). The playing conditions will now incorporate the relevant clauses from the MCC Laws of Cricket (2017 Code), meaning that all the playing regulations will be captured in one document for each format.
To maintain the balance between bat and ball, the size of the edges of the bats as well as their thickness will now be restricted.
The restriction on the length and width of bats remain unchanged but the thickness of the edges can't be more than 40mm and the overall depth can be 67 mm at the most.
Umpires will be issued with a new bat gauge, which they can use to check a bat's legality.
In a new playing condition pertaining to players' conduct, a player can now be sent off the field for the rest of the match for any serious misconduct through a red card.
"Threatening to assault an umpire, making inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with an umpire, physically assaulting a player or any other person and committing any other act of violence all constitute Level 4 offences.
Also, in the new the DRS rules a review will now not be lost in case of a decision that remains unchanged, solely as the result of an 'umpire's call'.
As for DRS in Test matches, there will be no more top-up reviews after 80 overs of an innings, meaning that there can only be two unsuccessful reviews in each innings, while the DRS will now also be allowed to be used in T20Is."
An important change with respect to run-outs is that if a batsman is running or diving towards the crease with forward momentum, and has grounded his/her bat behind the popping crease but subsequently lost contact with the ground at the time of the wickets being put down, the batsman will not be run out.
The same interpretation will also apply for a batsman trying to regain his/her ground to avoid being stumped.
For boundary catches, airborne fielders making their first contact with the ball will need to have taken off from within the boundary, otherwise a boundary will be scored.
Besides, a batsman can now be out caught, stumped or run out even if the ball bounces off the helmet worn by a fielder or wicket-keeper.
