The Indian Premier League is nothing short of an exhilarating experience for every cricket fan. Whether you watch it in the stadium, or at home on your television or phone, you will feel the thrill of watching the exciting matches between your favorite teams.

The IPL has made the T20 format of cricket very popular, resulting in a high number of viewers from all over the world. Domestic and overseas players from top teams around the world participate in the IPL, adding to the diversity in the league.

When playing the IPL, there are certain rules every team has to follow. The breach of any of these rules could result in the team captain and the playing XI team members being penalized. In the 13th edition of IPL held in 2021, captains of many teams were fined for breaching the slow over-rate rule mentioned in the clauses of IPL Playing Conditions. While spectators had heard of the slow over-rate before, they were left scratching their heads trying to figure out the slow over-rate meaning. 

What does slow over rate mean?

The slow over rate (SOR) rule states that each innings must be completed within 90 minutes. This is calculated by taking the average of how many overs in ipl are bowled per hour. According to this, ideally, every team should bowl close to 15 overs in one hour. The 90 minutes also includes two strategic timeouts of 2.5 minutes each. The total match timings also account for a 20-minute break between two innings. 

If the bowling team fails to finish their innings within 90 minutes, they would be penalized. This means that the match has to be completed in 3 hours and 20 minutes. Earlier, the over rate clock was stopped after the 19th over, meaning that the time taken to complete the 20th over would go unaccounted and the match could run past midnight. 

Slow over-rate rules:

The SOR rule was always a part of the IPL’s code of conduct but is more stringent now due to the complaints received from the broadcasters. Having a long-running match caused a lot of problems for the broadcasters. As per the updated rules, if the SOR rule is breached the first time in the season, the team captain will have to pay Rs.12 Lakhs as a fine. This is what captains like Rohit Sharma, Eoin Morgan, Sanju Samson, and MS Dhoni had to pay when their team breached the rule the first time around in IPL. 

If the team breaches the rule for a second time, the team captain is fined Rs. 24 Lakhs and the rest of the playing XI will be fined Rs. 6 Lakhs or 25% of their match fees, whichever is lower. And, for the third and breaches after that, the fine levied on the team captain is Rs. 30 Lakhs and he will be banned for one match. The rest of the playing XI will have to pay a fine of Rs. 12 Lakhs or 50% of their match fees, whichever is lower.