WHAT IS POWERPLAY IN CRICKET ?SIMPLE EXPLANATION|BATTING VS BOWLING POWERPLAY
whenever we are watching ODI or T20 cricket we often hear commentators having a lot of discussions regarding powerplay. We can literally hear commentators saying the word powerplay hundreds of times during a match.
Everyone who has heard it for the first time has wondered what actually powerplay is. But most people who had heard this term don't know the meaning or never tried to find the meaning of the term.
Some people who are very close to cricket especially people who are members of a cricket academy or club or people who are very passionate about cricket know what is powerplay but most people don't know what powerplay is.
In this article, we will be discussing about what is powerplay in cricket in detail. we will be also discussing the rules of powerplay, the history of powerplay, etc.
WHAT IS POWERPLAY?
Powerplay is the name given for field restrictions enforced in limited-overs cricket. The powerplay is used in limited-overs cricket for restricting fielders in certain areas for certain overs for providing batsmen with the opportunity to score runs fearlessly during certain overs( in overs with the maximum field restrictions)
If powerplay is not made mandatory fielding team will place defensive fielding and prevent batsmen from scoring runs this will affect the quality of the game and make the game less appealing to viewers.
So for making the sport more entertaining. only a certain number of fielders are allowed in certain areas for certain overs for providing batsmen a window for scoring runs
The rules of powerplay are different for both T20 and ODI cricket. So next, we will be discussing about powerplay rules in ODIs T20s and in The Hundred
POWERPLAY RULES IN T20 CRICKET
The general rule in limited-overs cricket is that only 5 fielders are allowed on the leg side. and another thing to know is that the powerplay can change if there is a reduction in total overs due to rain or other issues.
1)FIRST SIX OVERS: maximum of 2 fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle(if you wish to know what is 30-yard circle please skip to the q&a part at the end of this article ) or in the outfield.
2)FROM 7th TO 20th OVER: a maximum of 5 fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle
POWERPLAY RULES IN ODI CRICKET
1)FIRST TEN OVERS: Only a maximum of two fielders are allowed in the outfield or outside the 30-yard circle
2)FROM 11th TO 40th OVER: a maximum of four fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle.
3)FROM 41st TO 50th OVER: a maximum of five fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle.
POWERPLAY RULES IN 100-BALLS CRICKET
WHAT ARE P1, P2, P3?
These terms are used in ODI cricket to name the three levels of powerplays. P1 means powerplay ONE, P2 means powerplay two, P3 means powerplay 3.All these powerplays are mandatory.
POWERPLAY 1: It is the powerplay enforced in ODI cricket in the first 10 overs. In the first 10 overs, a maximum of two fielders is allowed outside the 30-yard circle.
POWERPLAY 2: It is the powerplay enforced in ODI cricket during the 11th to 40th over. In P2 a maximum of 4 fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle
POWERPLAY 3: It is the powerplay enforced in ODI cricket during the 41st to 50th over. In P3 a maximum of 5 fielders is allowed outside the 30-yard circle.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOWLING POWERPLAY AND BATTING POWERPLAY?
Bowling powerplay is the 5 overs selected by the bowling team in which field restriction(powerplay) is enforced. The bowling powerplay was introduced in 2005 and later in 2012 ICC discarded bowling powerplay from international cricket and it is also not used in any domestic cricket tournaments.
Batting powerplay is the 5 overs selected by the batting team in which field restrictions (powerplay) are enforced on the bowling team or it means that the batting team will select when should be the 2nd or 3rd powerplay is to be enforced.
But it lead to a problem when batting teams often selected to use this powerplay in the last 5 overs. In the last five overs, teams started losing most wickets this made the last overs less entertaining for spectators.
So in 2012 ICC made it compulsory to use batting powerplay within 36th over to avoid the continuous wicket loss during the last overs. But in 2015 batting powerplay was discarded and the whole innings was divided into 3 levels of mandatory powerplays.
HISTORY OF POWERPLAY IN CRICKET
1) INTRODUCTION OF FIELD RESTRICTIONS
When limited-overs cricket was introduced in the 1970s batsmen continued to use the style of batting they used in test cricket. This was against the interest of limited-overs cricket because limited-overs cricket was introduced to attract more viewers by making batting more aggressive.
For solving this issue field restriction was introduced in 1980 in Australia. It allowed only 2 fielders outside the 30-yard circle for the first 15 overs and in the remaining overs, only 5 fielders were allowed outside the 30-yard circle. After the introduction of these restrictions, batsmen started hitting boundaries often due to the fewer number of fielders in the outfield in certain overs.
2) AMENDMENTS IN 1992
Later in the year, 1992 ICC introduced new field restrictions. As per this rule, 2 fielders must be in the close infield (within the 15-yard circle) during the overs with field restrictions. Another thing you need to know is that the close infield is also known as catching position. It is marked by two semi-circles with a radius of 15 yards.
3) INTRODUCTION OF POWERPLAY IN 2005
In 2005 ICC named fielding restrictions as Powerplay and made some important changes to fielding restrictions they are:
1)No of powerplay overs increased from 15 to 20
2)These 20 overs were divided into 3 sets.1st set contains 10 overs and the 2nd and 3rd sets contain 5 overs each.
3)The 1st set of powerplay overs containing 10 overs need to be enforced during the first 10 overs and it is mandatory.
4)The remaining 2 sets can be enforced by the bowling team during the 11th to 45th over. It is the choice of the bowling team to when to enforce those powerplays.
5)The rule of two fielders in the close infield which was applicable in the first 15 overs was reduced to the first 10 overs.
Since the first 10 overs are compulsory powerplay it is called mandatory powerplay.
It was the duty of the captain of the bowling team to assess the situation of the game and decide when to enforce the 2 remaining sets of powerplays.
4)MODIFICATION OF POWERPLAY RULES IN 2008
In 2008 ICC decided to give the right to enforce one of the powerplays from 2 powerplays that were enforced by the bowling team to the batting team.
It means that the batting team can now decide when to enforce one set of 5over powerplays.
ICC introduced this change to increase the scoring rate in the middle overs because when 2 sets of powerplay were selected by the bowling team they were most often enforced during the last 10 overs so batsmen only attacked during those overs.
Now ICC thought that by giving chance to the batting team they will enforce powerplay in middle overs and accelerate the scoring in middle overs and make the sport more interesting to watch.
Initially, everything was going according to plan. But later batting team started losing wickets in those middle overs(where powerplay was enforced) due to sudden changes in the batting style. So the batting team started using their powerplay overs in the last 5 overs.
This lead to the unfulfillment of the objective of this rule so it lead to further modification in rules.
5)MODIFICATION OF POWERPLAY RULES IN 2011-12
So for avoiding powerplay in death overs, in 2011 ICC made it compulsory for both bowling and batting powerplay to be enforced within 16th to 36th over and both batting and bowling powerplay should not coincide with each other.
In 2012 ICC brought in another change, they discard the bowling powerplay and reduced the no .of powerplay to 2. The first powerplay is mandatory and is enforced during the first 10 overs
The second powerplay is batting powerplay which needs to be enforced during the 16th to 36th over. This provided batsmen an unfair advantage and they started scoring huge runs. This led to the scrappage of this rule and a new rule was introduced.
6)MODIFICATION OF POWERPLAY RULES IN 2015
In 2015 ICC introduced the rules that are used in international cricket to date. The following changes were made
- 3 sets of powerplay were introduced and all these powerplays are mandatory powerplay there is no option for the batting or bowling team to select when to enforce the powerplays.
- 3 sets of powerplay were introduced and all these powerplays are mandatory powerplay there is no option for the batting or bowling team to select when to enforce the powerplays.
- The first powerplay is during the first 10 overs
- The second powerplay is during 11th to 40th over
- The Third powerplay is during the last 10 overs
- There is no mandatory requirement to place two fielders in the close infield
COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS?
1)What is a 30-yard circle in cricket?
Ans: It is an inner oval line drawn in the cricket field. It consists of two semi-circles of 30 yards or a 27.4-meter radius from the center of each wicket. The 2 semicircles are connected with two parallel lines each having a 27.4-meter distance from the pitch. The area within the 30-yard circle is known as the infield and the area outside the 30-yard circle is known as the outfield. There are two other semi-circles of a radius of 15 yards and the area within those circles are named as close infield.
2)How many power plays are there in 50 overs cricket?
Ans: There are three power plays in an ODI match. They are powerplay 1, powerplay 2, and powerplay 3.
3)Is powerplay good for batsmen?
Ans: Yes powerplay is good for batsmen because it restricts no. of fielders placed near the boundary to 2 in the first 10 overs and 4 in the next 30 overs this provides batsmen with gaps in the outfield so batsmen can fearlessly hit sixes and fours to certain areas.
4)Who decides powerplay in cricket?
Ans: After the introduction f new powerplay rules in 2015 the whole innings is divided into 3 mandatory powerplays named P1, P2, and P3.So powerplays are mandatory and no one can choose when to enforce powerplays.
5)What is the purpose of powerplay?
Ans: Powerplays are introduced to make cricket more entertaining. During powerplays, some field restrictions help batsmen to score more runs which will make the game more entertaining and will attract more viewers as a result the popularity of cricket will rise.
6)How many overs powerplay in IPL?
Ans: IPL has the same no .of powerplay overs as international T20 matches and that is 6 overs. During the first six overs, only 2 fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle. In the remaining over a maximum of 5 fielders are allowed outside a 30-yard circle.
7) Is there any powerplay in Test cricket?
Ans: No there is no powerplay in test cricket because the batsmen can bat long as they need and score how much they need if they continue to survive so there is no need to provide batsmen a window to score runs easily.
The only field restriction in test cricket is that not more than 2 fielders other than the wicketkeeper are allowed in the area between the leg umpire (square leg area) and the keeper. and this rule applies to all formats of cricket. Another important rule in test cricket is that the wicketkeeper is not allowed to stand straight behind the stumps.
CONCLUSION
Powerplays have actually played a huge role in transforming traditional defensive cricket (test cricket) into modern limited-overs cricket. It is powerplays that made cricket a more entertaining game. It took more than 50 years to transform cricket into what we know today.
Nowadays captain of a cricket team has a huge responsibility to form a strategy for placing the field during the powerplays. This also enhanced the competition in cricket because every decision made by a captain has a huge impact on the result of the game.
If you are passionate about cricket and wish to become a top professional in cricket you must not only watch the games but you also need carefully observe how batsman and bowlers perform in different powerplays and what are strategies they are following. This will certainly help you to improve the way you understand and play the sport of cricket.
If you are also aiming to become a great captain you also need to observe and study how captains like Dhoni, Rohit, Williamson, Virat, and warner are setting the field according to each powerplay. and you also need to understand to what type of bowlers the is given balls in powerplay overs in different conditions.
IMAGES CREDITS: GETTY IMAGEs
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