Published 12:40 IST, October 8th 2019
The Hundred: The new format of cricket is all set to debut in 2020
'The Hundred' was introduced by the ECB as a new cricket competition with newer rules, that will start being played in 2020. Read more as we go over the details
If you are an ardent follower of the sport of Cricket, you may have come across the term - 'The Hundred'. The Hundred is an all-new format of Cricket that the England Cricket Board is bringing to the game and no, it is not just the same game with reduced overs. The Hundred distinguishes itself by not only its length but also the functioning of the game. Here are a few details about the competition that will commence in July 2020.
The Hundred: A New Game
The Hundred will host 100-balls per innings matches where every over will last 10 balls. A single bowler cannot bowl more than 20 balls in an innings. The bowler can bowl 10 balls in a row or a shorter spell of five balls in a row. The ends will change at the end of every 10th ball. The first 25 balls of every innings will be the Powerplay period for the batting side. The teams can call out for strategic timeouts which will last two and a half minutes.
The Hundred: Will Indian Players participate?
Current Team India players will sadly not be a part of the league as the BCCI has ruled that Indian players who have not announced their formal retirement in the country can not participate in leagues that rival the IPL. This is the exact reason why Indian players have not played in tournaments like The Big Bash League. Harbhajan Singh had listed his name for The Hundred Draft but retracted it because he wants to continue playing for Chennai Super Kings, where he has been for the last two years.
The Hundred: What will be the league progression?
The league will have eight teams for both the Men's and Women's competitions, respectively. Each team will play four games at home and four games away from home. At the end of 32 matches in the league stage, the top four will qualify for the playoffs whose structure will be the same as the playoffs for the Indian Premier League.
The Hundred: Which players are participating?
A lot of very big names in Cricket are participating in this competition. Players like Chris Gayle, Lasith Malinga, Steve Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada, Andre Russell, Glenn Maxwell, Shahid Afridi, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, Keiron Pollard, Rashid Khan, D'Arcy Short are a few among the 165 overseas players who have registered for the new competition.
Updated 17:37 IST, October 8th 2019