The ‘impact player’ rule has been a luxury for Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises since its introduction in the previous season. First introduced on Indian soil in domestic T20 tournament, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the ‘impact player’ rule has had mixed reviews. Many said that it will hinder in the development of new all-rounders as franchises will look for a specialist when it comes to an explosive batter or an extra bowler. Former Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) head coach Tom Moody has raised called for an end to the experiment as it has led to an imbalance between the bat and ball. Also, it hides the franchises’ poor calls made while selecting the 11 players.
“The “impact sub” has been a worthwhile trial but I feel it’s time to revert back to just playing XI’s. The sub has created an imbalance between bat v ball, it also covers up for poor selection and auction strategy,” Moody wrote on his X account on April 16.
The impact player’s impact
Franchises have used players who recently recovered from injuries as their impact players. The most recent example is Suryakumar Yadav who has been used as impact player by Mumbai Indians (MI) since his return to the side after injury. On the other hand, Punjab Kings (PBKS) have used Ashutosh Sharma perfectly as their impact player. They have assigned him the finisher role.
At times, teams have gone to ‘Plan B’ if they suffer a batting collapse or one of the bowlers gets injured. Delhi Capitals (DC) chose Abhishek Porel as their impact player and sent him to bat at no.9 to push their score.
The perfect example to justify Moody’s point
However, Moody’s concern is not misplaced. As Hardik Pandya struggles with bat and bowl and the Indian team management look for backups, they won’t be able to due to impact player rule. Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) Shivam Dube is the perfect specimen to put forward for the debate. CSK have often used him as their impact player and he has tormented bowling attacks in the middle overs and the death. However, he has not bowled a single over in the season so far. Had the impact player rule not existed, Dube would have been used as a part-time pacer by captain Ruturaj Gaikwad at least when one of their players had a bad day at the office.
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