Sunil Gavaskar urges BCCI to ‘keep the sanctity of the playing area’ in IPL 2026, says ‘taking the liberty too far’

Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar recently opened up about the time-wasting problem in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). IPL 2026 has witnessed a few lengthy matches, often spanning either close to or over four hours.

The Mumbai Indians (MI) vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) match on 12 April was the longest of IPL 2026 so far, as it took a total time of four hours and 22 minutes to complete. This was even without super over coming into play.

Sunil Gavaskar suggested that only a few reserve players and support staff members should be allowed to enter the field of play during the strategic timeout, or during a drinks break.

“Often, one sees the unnecessary sight of reserve players stepping onto the ground to give a bottle of water to the fielder near the boundary. That should not be allowed, as that would mean more than 11 players on the field while the play is on, even though it may be between deliveries.

"At the strategic time out too, one often sees about half a dozen others on the ground, including the batters who are next into bat," the 1983 World Cup winner wrote on Mid-Day.

"That is taking the liberty too far. Here again, apart from the two reserve players with the drinks and two from the coaching staff, and nobody else should be allowed on the ground,” he added.

“As Richie Benaud said to me at the start of my broadcasting career, the ground is a sacred place and should be entered only by those officiating and those playing. This is the reason if, am not doing any pitch report or a TV show, I hardly step out on the field.

"Hopefully, the BCCI will also ensure that and all the committee members who have all access accreditation also do not step inside the boundary. Keep the sanctity of the playing area please.

"The IPL is a fantastic tournament, but a bit of looseness and laxity is coming in which is not cricket and if the ever-alert BCCI can take measures to get it even more crisper and tighter, it will be truly unbeatable and brilliantly spectacular as any event can ever be,” Sunil Gavaskar explained.

“Today all batters are in the dug-out instead of being in their change room as in the past, so the allowance of two minutes can be brought down to a minute and if the batter is not ready to face the bowler, then after a couple of warnings to the team, the penalty runs should kick in,” he said.

“Similarly, the first ball after the strategic time-out should be bowled exactly after two minutes and 30 seconds have passed. Here also, the actual time taken at the end of the over, and then the umpire signalling time out, means the break is for almost three minutes. Yes, it’s peak summer, so the players need to cool down and get some refreshing drinks, but this is being exploited, and the time out can stretch unnecessarily. Again, a penalty of runs will make a huge difference,” Gavaskar explained.

He even suggested penalties for any such offence. “Today, with the amount of money that is on offer, a financial penalty is nothing for the teams who usually take care of the individual player’s financial penalty too. Unless the penalty is such that it can affect the result of the game, it won’t be effective,” he said.

“See the panic that happens when a team is penalised for not bowling its overs in time and is allowed one player less outside the 30-metre ring for the final over. That’s because it can affect the result of the game. A points or runs penalty will ensure that there is no dawdling between the overs,” elaborated the former Somerset cricketer.