MS Dhoni wants to get his bat altered

Former Indian captain MS Dhoni feels the need to change his technique for the future challenges. He wants his bats to be resized as per the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) rules. As per the recent guidelines set by the MCC, the thick edges of bats will have to be limited to within 40mm. Whereas it is understood that Dhoni’s bat has an edge of 45mm at present.

He still has some time to resize his bats, as the above-stated rule would be followed from October 1. The right hander has not been at his very best with the bat in recent times. However, he scored a couple of half-centuries in the recently concluded Caribbean tour. His old finishing touch seems to have vanished with time and he feels the need to get into a new modified role before the big event that is the World Cup 2019.

Other players and their bat sizes

Apart from Dhoni, many other big hitters also need to get their willows resized which include the likes of Australian opener David Warner, West Indian big hitters Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard. However, a lot of modern day masters have bats within the set of rules as per the MCC. India skipper Virat Kohli, England Test skipper Joe Root and Australia skipper Steve Smith also have bats with less than 45mm thick edges. Even South Africa batsman AB de Villiers has his bats well in the guideline of MCC.

Apart from Kohli, even the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane use bats within the 40mm edge stipulation.

Other changes

The MCC has come up with a number of alterations to the rules of cricket. Some of the significant changes by the MCC are as follows:

– Now written in language applying to all persons, regardless of gender.

– The Handled the ball Law has been deleted, with its contents merged into Obstructing the field.

– The lost ball Law has been deleted and is now covered under Dead ball.

– Limits placed on the thickness of the edges and the overall depth of the bat.

– A new Law of the game, Players’ misconduct, is introduced, giving an in-match consequence for poor on-field behaviour.

– “Bouncing bat” Law changed, substitutes now allowed to keep wickets and concept of penalty time amended.

– It is to be noted that all the above stated rules would come into play from 1st October, 2017.