An unusual incident occurred when the umpire inspected Simron Hetmyer's bat dimensions upon his arrival at the crease during the Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Following Yashasvi Jaiswal's dismissal on the final delivery of the 16th over, Hetmyer entered at the fifth position for the Royals, joining Dhruv Jurel at the crease whilst the home team sought to accelerate their scoring rate.
The game experienced a momentary pause as the official utilised a bat gauge to verify whether Hetmyer's bat conformed to regulation specifications.
Subsequently, the umpire conducted an identical inspection for RCB's opening batsman Phil Salt before their batting innings commenced.
Why was Hetmyer's bat size checked by the umpire?
During an IPL match, the on-field umpire decided to inspect Shimron Hetmyer’s bat to ensure it complied with the league’s regulations. This routine check was conducted to verify that the West Indies star's bat met the specifications outlined under Law 5.7 of the IPL playing conditions, which govern bat dimensions.
Hetmyer's bat successfully passed the inspection.
The IPL regulations do not specify any point penalties for such violations, and it appears that if Hetmyer's bat had failed to comply with the standards, he would have simply been instructed to use a different bat.
ACCORDING TO THE RULES:
The overall length of the bat, including the handle, must not exceed 38 inches (96.52 cm).
The blade dimensions are restricted to:
Width: 4.25 inches (10.8 cm)
Depth: 2.64 inches (6.7 cm)
Edges: 1.56 inches (4.0 cm)
The bat must also be able to pass through a bat gauge, as specified.
The handle must not be more than 52% of the total length of the bat.
Any covering material on the blade must not exceed 0.04 inches (0.1 cm) in thickness.
The protective material on the toe of the bat must not be thicker than 0.12 inches (0.3 cm).
PAST INCIDENT:
In the previous season, a significant incident occurred in the English County Championship when Essex received a 12-point deduction after their batsman Feroze Khushi's bat failed to meet size regulations during a match with Nottinghamshire.
The incident took place when Khushi was on 21 runs from 27 deliveries, requiring him to switch his bat.
This sanction ultimately affected Essex's championship aspirations against Surrey. Without the point deduction, Essex would have secured third position instead of their eventual fourth-place finish.
Bd-Pratidin English/ARK
