There will be no controversial ‘soft signal’ rule in the upcoming 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) season which is set to commence on April 9.

According to reports, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has eliminated this element in its updated playing conditions for this year’s IPL.

The development comes following India skipper Virat Kohli speaking about the need to remove soft signals when referring to a decision to the third-umpire.

“The soft signal has kind of created confusion rather than giving clarity to the third umpire,” Kohli had said after the fourth T20I against England in Ahmedabad. At that time, he had also vouched for an ‘I don’t know’ call for the on-field umpires.

In that match, Suryakumar Yadav was given out after the third umpire didn’t find ‘conclusive evidence’ to go against the on-field umpire’s soft signal ‘Out’.

It looks like the BCCI took the remark seriously, as it has updated the IPL 14 playing conditions as per which, the on-field officials would not be allowed to give soft signals when referring a decision to the third umpire.

“Soft Signal: On-field Umpire giving Soft Signal while referring the decision to the 3rd Umpire will not be applicable,” reads the updated playing conditions for IPL 2021.

“There have been cases wherein the soft signal has kind of created confusion rather than giving clarity to the third umpire and that is why it was felt that going back to the old method of referring decisions to the third umpire if the on-field umpires are not sure should be followed,” stated sources.

In another development, the third umpire will also have the power to overturn the ‘short run’ call made by the on-field umpire.