The Rajasthan Royals-Delhi Capitals game had a controversial start to the second innings today (March 28), as the DC camp complained that RR were violating the playing conditions by fielding a fifth overseas player.

RR recovered from 36-3 in the eighth over to end up with 185 after the tactical masterstroke of promoting R Aswhin paid off big time. Riyan Parag finished unbeaten on 84, his highest IPL score.

At the innings break, RR employed their impact sub, bringing in Nandre Burger for Shimron Hetmyer. Since they had named only three overseas players in their starting XI, this was a move they were allowed to do.

However, controversy arose when along with Burger, Rovman Powell also made his way on the field as a substitute fielder. While Burger was the impact sub for Hetmyer, Powell came on to substitute for Parag, who probably needed a breather after being at the crease for nearly 15 overs.

Play was stopped two balls into the innings as Delhi complained about the extra overseas player on the field. Ricky Ponting was seen having animated discussions with match officials outside the boundary line, which reminded viewers of a similar incident from the RR vs DC game in 2022. Powell was involved then as well, with Rishabh Pant threatening to call his batters back after a waist-high full-toss was not adjudged as a no-ball.

Did RR violate any rules by fielding Rovman Powell?

Technically, Powell was the fifth overseas player RR used in the match, but they were not in violation of any playing conditions.

Article 1.2.6 of IPL’s playing conditions states that there can’t be more than four overseas players “on the field of play at any time during any match”. Since RR had named only three overseas players to start with, and Hetmyer had not taken the field, even with Powell on, they only had four overseas players on the field.

“A team may not have more than four overseas players on the field of play at any time during any Match,” reads article 1.2.6. “Thus, if the team names the maximum 4 Overseas players in its starting XI, an Overseas player may only take the field as a substitute fielder if the player that he is replacing is an Overseas player.

“If the team names less than 4 Overseas players in its starting XI, Overseas players may only enter the field of play as substitute fielders to the extent that by doing so, they do not take the total number of Overseas players representing that team on the field to more than 4.”

Article 1.10 of the Impact Player regulations state that “if a team introduces an overseas player as an Impact Player in a match, in no circumstance can a 5th overseas player take the field.”

While the wording here might be slightly confusing, it’s consistent with article 1.2.6 of the playing conditions in that “in no circumstance can a 5th overseas player take the field” is equivalent to “may not have more than 4 Overseas players on the field of play at any time”. At no point did the number of overseas players on the field for RR exceed four.

Powell eventually came off after Parag returned. Despite a late scare by Tristan Stubbs and Axar Patel, RR were able to safely win the game by 12 runs.

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