IPL 2025 – Hawk-Eye tech to judge off side and head-high wides

Wides outside off stump and over the head of the batter will be adjudicated using Hawk-Eye technology in IPL 2025. The decision was approved by the IPL on Thursday and communicated to all ten captains during a meeting in Mumbai ahead of the 2025 season which starts from March 22.

ESPNcricinfo has learned that the same technology which was used to measure over-the-waist no-balls in IPL 2024 will be applied in the case of the over-the-head wides. The ball-tracking technology, which is part of Hawk-Eye, will measure the height of the ball as it passes the batter at the popping crease which will then be matched against the toe-to-head height of the batter when in an upright position – recorded in advance. If the height of the ball is higher than the recorded head height, then it will be declared a wide.

The head heights of each player would be stored in the database and there will be no subjective call involved in the decision making with an automated system carrying out the measurement.

Wide guideline to move with batter

The subjective element involved in deciding wides will also be removed from this season as the IPL has decided that the wide guideline – usually in blue – will move with the batter. For example, if a right-hand batter moves one feet to his right outside off stump, the wide guideline will accordingly shift the same distance and will be used to adjudicate a wide.

The Hawk-Eye technology will carry out the measurement automatically – both how much the batter has moved and how much the guideline moves. The TV umpire can see the movement on his screen and can adjudicate whether it is a wide or not based on whether ball pitched within or outside the revised wide guideline. The measurements will not be shown on TV screen and will only be visible to the TV umpire. The return crease, marked white, will not move. Also, the new system will not be applicable to adjudicate leg-side wides.

The IPL has been at the forefront of adopting technology in decision-making for the past few years. In 2023, having trialled the system in the WPL, which was also the first instance in T20 cricket, teams were allowed to refer wides and no-balls as part of the two DRS reviews in IPL. Last year the IPL became the first league to use ball-tracking technology to judge over-the-waist no-balls.