DC coach Ricky Ponting says IPL's 'Impact Player' rule 'probably not ideal' for players and coaches

Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting did not sound like a fan of the ‘Impact Player’ rule introduced in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2023, but would be happy for the IPL to retain it if it made the cricket a lot more exciting to watch.

Ponting echoed Mumbai Indians batter and India captain Rohit Sharma's views on the topic, adding that the rule did hamper the development of all-rounders in the game.

“Look, I think, I read some really, really interesting answers from Rohit Sharma on this yesterday. This Impact Player is taking the all-rounders out of the game a little bit.

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“You know you can play your specialist batsman down till No 8. pretty much. But look, I think for a coach and for the players, it’s probably not ideal, but I think you know a lot of what this game tries to do is to entertain people," Ponting said on the eve of DC's home game against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Whether the rule should stay or be removed would depend largely on the response from spectators and whether they expressed satisfaction over its impact on the game, ‘Punter’ added.

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“The T20 game is an entertainment package and it’s probably better asking the spectator what they think about the impact player, because if everyone is loving the fact that teams are making, you know, 220 up to 250 in a lot of the games, and the spectators like seeing it, then it should stay.

“But if the spectators aren’t liking it as much, then there’s no reason why I couldn’t go back to the old,’ Ponting added.

MI opener Rohit had recently appeared on the Club Prairie Fire podcast in which he discussed the rule with legendary Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist and ex-England captain Michael Vaughan.

Rohit added that the negative impact it had on the development of Indian all-rounders, especially due to the fact that it was not implemented at the international level, was something that bothered him.

“I am not a big fan of Impact sub rule. It is going to hold all rounders back, eventually cricket is played by 11 players not 12 players. You are taking out so much from game to make it entertaining for people around.

“If you look just from the cricketing aspect of it I feel guys like Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar aren’t getting to bowl, which for us is not a good thing,” the ‘Hitman’ said recently.