Zing-bail glitch prompts WPL rule change: Wicket broken only when bail fully dislodged

In the wake of the contentious run-out incidents during the last-ball thriller between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians on February 15, the WPL has notified teams that the Zing bail will need to be fully dislodged for umpires to judge that the wicket is broken in the context of run-out and stumping decisions.

This means the pre-existing playing condition, which states that the stumps are deemed to be broken when the bails light up, will not be applicable in WPL 2025 going forward. Appendix D of the tournament playing conditions, which was shared with teams in the lead-up to the season, states: "where Zing wickets are used, the moment at which the wicket has been put down shall be deemed to be the first frame in which the Zing lights are illuminated and subsequent frames show the bail permanently removed from the top of the stumps."

ESPNcricinfo has learned that the reason for the rule change is that the batch of bails being used during this WPL have been lighting up at the slightest disturbance, even when both spigots have not come off the grooves on top of the stumps. Under the Laws of cricket, a bail is completely dislodged only when the bail comes entirely off the groove.

The BCCI has used Zing bails both in bilateral and domestic cricket including the IPL and WPL. Each bail contains a microprocessor that detects the moment when both spigots have come off their grooves, and causes the bail to light up within 1/1000th of a second. During this WPL, it is understood that the bails began to flash even when one spigot was still resting on its groove. Consequently it was decided that third umpires would base their final ruling on the moment when the bail becomes completely dislodged, with both spigots coming off their grooves.

This was why Gayathri Venugopalan, the third umpire for the Capitals-Mumbai match, made her final ruling in the three run-out decisions - which led to widespread debate - based on the point when the bails were completely off their grooves.

It is learned that the match officials were told about this rule change on the morning of the Capitals-Mumbai match, which was the second game of the season. The teams, though, were notified on the day after the match.