BCCI bans match‑day practice
The BCCI has banned match‑day practice sessions for IPL 2026 and rolled out tighter facility controls and stiffer code‑of‑conduct penalties, forcing teams to plan practice within pre‑assigned windows. (indiatoday.in)
BCCI sent an operational addendum to all ten franchises on March 23–24, 2026, days before the IPL opener scheduled for March 28, 2026, according to league coverage and venue briefings. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)) At Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium the board has mandated two practice wickets on either side of the main square and limited each team to two nets and one side-wicket for range hitting during allocated sessions. (cricbuzz.com (cricbuzz.com)) The addendum also enforces a “fresh nets” policy that prohibits sharing or reuse of practice pitches in the same window and instructs team managers to resolve double-bookings or have BCCI split slots—reports cite potential two-hour window divisions as the operational fallback. (financialexpress.com (financialexpress.com)) Match logistics will now include mandated travel protocols requiring players to use the official team bus while family members and friends must travel separately in different vehicles, per the board’s circulated instructions. (news18.com (news18.com)) The note tightens on‑field and presentation standards by banning open nets at venues, restricting fitness tests on the main square, and restricting attire such as sleeveless jerseys and floppy hats during official presentations. (hindustantimes.com (hindustantimes.com)) Operational staffing tasks that will expand immediately include pre-assigned session scheduling by match‑day operations coordinators, wicket and net provisioning by ground‑staff supervisors, and accreditation checks by team‑liaison officers to enforce the fresh‑nets and allocation rules outlined in the BCCI memo. (cricketwebs.com (cricketwebs.com)) Because the board has concentrated on fixed practice windows and fresh‑net protocols, analytics teams will need to shift capture and testing to those scheduled slots—this implies a priority on portable sensor deployments, automated session logging, and session-level load/technique dashboards as core technical skills for entry-level performance analysts; suggested student projects include building a two‑hour slot booking + audit app for nets and a prototype inertial‑sensor batting workload dashboard for preseason sessions. (cricbuzz.com (cricbuzz.com))
