ICC has made many modifications in the rules and regulations of the one day international cricket format since the last two years. So this world cup will have those new rules implemented which were not present in the previous tournament. Here are some of those rules that will be followed.
Power play: In the days where there was no rule of power play, five fielders used to stand out side the circle. But with the implementation of power play their number is limited to four. So it has become difficult to control the flow of runs in the slog overs. Previous world cup has seen a total of three power plays. First ten overs are played with mandatory power play and there were other two optional power plays (batting and bowling). But this time there will be only two power plays. The first one will be in the first ten overs. In this only two fielders will stand out side the circle. The second one is five overs batting power play which will have only three fielders out side the circle.
Ball change: Earlier the umpires used to bring in the new ball after the completion of 34 overs. But now the rule is changed and from the beginning of the innings two new balls will be used to bowl from two different ends. That means both the opening bowlers will bowl with a new ball. This change in the rule has influenced the ODI's a lot. With this the ball remains new for many overs. As the number of fielders out side the circle will also be reduced, this world cup may not see the impact of part time bowlers to a large extent. Remember the magic of part time bowler Yuvraj in the last world cup!
If tied: In 2007 world cup "bowl out" was used to declare the winner in case of ties. In the last world cup "super over" came into existence. But this year super over will be used only in finals. If the matches are tied in quarter and semi finals winner will be declared based on the performance of respective teams in league stage matches.
Difficulty for spinners: ICC has made many changes in the past two years regarding the bowling action. As the complaints of checking are increased, it has put up many restrictions when it comes to spinners. So the spinners have made many changes in their bowling action in order to comply with the new rules. So they are loosing their natural style of bowling. This may negatively affect the spin bowlers and in turn may become favor to the batsmen which will result in the big scores.
With smaller stadiums and pitches that are more batting friendly, this series may witness a record number of runs. Australia and New Zealand pitches are known for their favorable batting conditions. In the last four years, with the advent of T20's the speed of scoring the runs has been tremendously increased. In the last year the average runrate on Australian pitches is 5.42 where as in New Zealand it is 5.64. So spectators may witness many high scoring matches.
Apart from these team India also made many changes in its members. With only four players who played the last world cup retained in this year's list, the team looks much younger and energetic compared to previous tournaments. So lets hope that the Men in Blue will repeat their magic and retain the world cup.
