Riyan Parag becomes latest victim of umpire's gauge test, forced to change bat after replacing injured Samson vs DC

After Sunil Narine and Anrich Nortje, Rajasthan Royals' Riyan Parag became the latest victim of the umpire's gauge test to check bats, which the BCCI recently launched in the ongoing IPL 2025. Parag replaced an injured Sanju Samson during Rajasthan's chase of 189 against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Riyan Parag was forced to change his bat during DC game

Samson hurt himself while playing an ugly swipe against Mohit Sharma on the penultimate ball of the fifth over. He tried to carry through the pain, which even involved the physio having a look at it as the game was paused for a while before he opted to retire.

Parag replaced the injured Samson but was immediately stopped by the on-field umpire before he took strike as his bat had undergone the gauge test. But it failed. Parag was seen animatedly talking to the match official before being forced to change his equipment.

What is BCCI's new rule regarding bat size?

In a move to strike a balance between batting and bowling in T20 cricket, BCCI introduced the rule wherein every bat will go through a gauge before the batter takes guard. While the fourth umpire will inspect the bats of the openers before they take the field, for every subsequent batters, it will be checked by the two on-field umpires.

IPL chairman Arun Dhumal explained that the move was to make sure there is a fair battle on the field. Nobody should feel that somebody's got an undue advantage," he told The Indian Express.

"The BCCI and IPL have always taken all initiatives in this direction so that fairness of the game is maintained. We have used technology to the maximum to make sure that all decisions can be reviewed so that the games don't get unfairly affected. The idea behind this initiative is to ensure that the spirit of the game is maintained."

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