Bat check in IPL? Phil Salt & Shimron Hetmyer stopped for bat check by umpires during RR vs RCB match

The clash between the two Royals in the tournament took a weird turn on Sunday. The Rajasthan Royals were playing against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh Stadium. However, an unexpected thing happened when the umpires decided to check the players’ bats.

Shimron Hetmyer’s bat check

The first instance of bat check took place on Shimron Hetmyer. The Rajasthan Royals batter came to the crease at the end of the 16th over. Royals were batting first, and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was just dismissed. Hetmyer came ot bat at number 5 to join Dhruv Jurel. The on-field umpire decided to stop the match and check Hetmyer’s bat to see if it adhered to official guidelines.

Phil Salt’s bat inspection

Similarly, in the second inning, when Royal Challengers Bengaluru were batting, opener Phil Salt had to undergo the same inspection. The umpires checked his bat before his inning started. In both the cases of Hetmyer and Salt, the bats were found to be conforming to the IPL guidelines. The batters were allowed to play with their equipment.

What are the guidelines?

The bats of the two batters were inspected using a standard bat gauge. As per Law 5.7 of the IPL playing conditions, bats are required to adhere strictly to specified size regulations. Accordingly, a bat, including the handle, must not be more than 38 inches (96.52 cm) in total length.

The width of the bat should be 4.25 inches (10.8 cm) at the most, with the depth capped at 2.64 inches (6.7 cm). Edges are not allowed to exceed 1.56 inches (4.0 cm). Moreover, the handle must constitute no more than 52% of the bat’s total length.

Covering materials used on the bat must be within 0.04 inches (0.1 cm). Any toe protection used must not exceed 0.12 inches (0.3 cm) in thickness. Furthermore, the bat should cleanly pass through the official bat gauge.

RCB win

Meanwhile, RCB registered another win. They won their fourth game of the season by defeating RR. Batting first, RR set a target of 174. RCB chased it with 15 balls to spare and 9 wickets in hand. Virat Kohli and Phil Salt scored half-centuries.

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