 "File photo of former India cricketer, coach and now commentator Ravi Shastri. Reuters")
The Impact Player rule has not gone down too well for coaches and players alike this IPL season. But former India coach Ravi Shastri has backed the strategy for providing thrilling finishes in the ongoing tournament.
“The Impact Player [rule] is good. You have to evolve with the times,” Shastri told R Ashwin on his Youtube channel. “You know, it happens in other sports as well. It’s got tighter finishes. You have to evolve with the times and I think it’s a good rule. You saw the number of tight finishes we had in last year’s IPL. So, you know, it has made a big difference.”
India captain Rohit Sharma said on a podcast that the rule is detrimental to the development of allrounders. R Ashwin, however, cited the example of Dhruv Jurel, who began his IPL career as an Impact Player in IPL 2023 and made his India Test debut within a year.
“You know when any new rule comes in, there will be…people will try and justify why that’s not right,” Shastri said. “But in time when you see the scores - 200 and 190 - and then like you mentioned individuals grabbing that opportunity and making the most of it, people will start re-looking at how they think about it.”
BCCI secretary Jay Shah last week said the Impact Player is “not permanent” and can be chalked off if stakeholders are not happy with it.
“Impact Player is like a test case. We have implemented it slowly. The biggest advantage of it is that two Indian players are getting a chance [in each game], which is the most important,” Shah had told reporters. “We will consult with the players, franchises, broadcasters [and take a call]. This is not permanent [but] I am not saying that it will go.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“[We’ll see] if it’s making the game more competitive or not. Even then, if a player feels that this is not right, then we will talk to them. But no one has told us anything yet, so it will be decided after the World Cup.”
Impact Player had initially been trialled in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy before being added to the IPL in the 2023 season. As per the rule, teams are allowed to bring in a 12th player at any point in a match to replace a player from the original XI.
Due to the Impact Player rule, the scoring rates have gone up and 225-250-plus scores became the norm rather than an outlier.
Axar Patel, Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj all have spoken out against it. Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting said IPL can retain the rule if it provides a “better spectacle”. But as a coach, he wasn’t keen on it and called it a “nightmare” .