Shardul Thakur slammed the impact player rule in the Indian Premier League after Lucknow Super Giants's (LSG) five-wicket win against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2025. Shardul said that he is not a fan of teams constantly posting totals of more than 250 in the cash-rich league.
Since the rule was introduced, the scores have skyrocketed in the tournament. In the ongoing season, runners-up SRH have already registered the second-highest total in the tournament's history (286/6 against Rajasthan Royals).
"See, I feel bowlers got very little on these kinds of pitches and even in the last game pre-match, I said that pitches should be prepared in such a manner that the game hangs in the balance for batters and bowlers," Shardul said at the post-match presentation.
"Especially after the impact sub-rule coming in, it's not fair on bowlers to see scoreboards 250, 260 and 270 runs every time. That's my honest opinion," he added.
Coming back to the match, SRH, who dominated Rajasthan Royals in their tournament's opener clash, failed to perform against LSG as Shardul Thakur's four-wicket haul restricted them to just 190 runs in 20 overs. After being asked to bat, SRH failed to get a good start as Thakur picked up Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan's wickets on two consecutive balls in the third over. SRH's highest run-getter was Travis Head, who scored 47 runs.
While coming to chase, LSG's Despite losing one wicket in the second over, Mitchell Marsh slammed 52 off 31, and Nicholas Pooran smashed 70 off 26 which helped the Lucknow-based franchise to register their first win of the tournament. LSG will now face Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 1 at Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.