The Big Bash League has lined up another rule twist for next season, with a “designated batter and designated fielder” option set to debut from BBL 16 in the men’s competition. It’s designed to create tactical flexibility while also helping teams manage workload and injury risk for key stars.
What the new BBL rule is
Teams will be allowed to nominate one player from their XI as the designated batter before the bat flip. That player can bat but will not be permitted to field or bowl. If a club activates the option, it must also name a designated fielder who can field (and keep wicket) but cannot bat or bowl.
Importantly, it is optional. Franchises can still pick a regular XI and play the match exactly as they do now. But if they opt in, the pair’s roles are fixed by designation rather than floating with match situations.
How it changes team balance and tactics
The trade-off is straightforward: carrying a designated fielder essentially means selecting a non-batting specialist in your XI. That can be attractive if your team wants a top-tier keeper/fielder on the park for 20 overs, but it can also thin the batting tail and reduce flexibility if collapses happen.
The flip side is the upside for teams with elite power-hitters who may not be at their best physically across a full match. With the designated batter, franchises can keep a marquee hitter focused on one job — scoring fast — while reducing the intensity and injury exposure that comes with fielding and, in some cases, bowling workloads.
Why the BBL is pushing this now
The league’s pitch is part spectacle, part practicality. BBL decision-makers want the best names playing more often, and for longer, across a season where travel, schedule density, and international workloads can thin availability. It’s also a clear nod to baseball’s designated hitter concept — adapted for cricket’s structure without changing the core mechanics of innings, wickets, or over limits.
The BBL has previously experimented with in-game substitutions, so this is a cleaner, pre-declared version that still adds strategy without the mid-match chaos.
Could other leagues copy it — and can the IPL use it?
Other leagues can, in theory, adopt it because tournament playing conditions can be updated without rewriting the Laws of Cricket. The bigger question is whether they need it.
For the IPL specifically, the tournament already has the Impact Player rule, which is far more flexible because it allows a substitute from a nominated bench to be used tactically during the match. The BBL version is narrower and more specialist-driven: it’s less about giving teams an “extra” batter or bowler, and more about workload management and fielding/keeping optimisation within a fixed XI.
Could the IPL still do it? Yes, but it would be a harder sell. Adding another substitution layer risks cluttering a format that already has a major tactical lever. Unless the IPL sees a strong reason — like protecting high-value batters while improving overall fielding standards — it may prefer to keep the Impact Player as the single headline rule.
What happens next
For now, the designated batter–designated fielder option applies only to the men’s Big Bash from BBL 16. The women’s competition is not included at this stage, though the idea is likely to remain on the table depending on how teams and fans respond once it’s trialed in live matches.
