The hotly debated Impact Player or Impact Sub rule in Indian Premier League is likely to continue for another year. While the rule does not help India Cricket Team create another Hardik Pandya, franchises are all for it. It helps the teams strategise better even when there is a lack of a pace-bowling all-rounder in the team. However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has yet to take a final call on this.
The Indian board hasn’t announced any revision to the existing rule for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the rule’s testing ground. With the IPL Governing Council chairman, Arun Dhumal, away on ICC responsibilities, a meeting did not take place. But Dhumal is expected to convene a meeting next week to discuss the rules. And a concrete decision on whether the Impact Player rule will survive IPL 2025 is likely then.
“There has not been any debate on the Impact Player rule. As is the case with all new rules, we seek feedback from the stakeholders. Franchises have given their feedback and some of the players too. We value their feedback. But ultimately, it is on the IPL GC to take the final call,” a BCCI official told InsideSport.
IPL Impact Player: Those in favour
Introduced in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023, the Impact Player rule was supposed to make the matches more exciting. After a successful trial run, it was added to IPL 2023. And it was an instant hit. In IPL 2024, its full extent of benefits came to the fore when in excess of 200 runs became routine.
It gave the franchises a second chance at correcting mistakes in the playing XI. The 12th player could become the saviour. A team can introduce an additional batter if there is a batting collapse or a bowler if the bowling department hasn’t got the desired results. Indian star Ravichandran Ashwin is also a fan.
“Why I think the Impact Player rule is not so bad is because it gives a little more value for strategy. It’s not like the all-rounders are discouraged because of the Impact Player rule. There’s an opportunity for innovation and it makes the game fairer,” Ashwin spoke on the Impact Player rule on Krishnamachari Srikkanth’s YouTube channel.
Former India pacer and the new mentor of Lucknow Super Giants, Zaheer Khan, is also in favour.
“There has been a debate around the impact sub rule. I’m going on record to say that I’m all for it,” Zaheer said during a media interaction on Wednesday.
Those who oppose it
The other side of the story is even more important. While IPL has become a successful independent entity, there is no denying that it has a huge impact on India Cricket Team. But with the introduction of the Impact Player rule, franchises won’t be over-dependent on all-rounders, effectively diminishing their demand. Shivam Dube was reduced to a batter, taking away his all-rounder role.
Hardik Pandya is still a rare commodity in Indian cricket for his skillset and the selectors haven’t yet found a suitable backup, let alone a proper replacement. The reason is that the Impact Player rule does not exist in international cricket. Even Virat Kohli supported Rohit Sharma in this regard. In the first year of the rule, foreign coaches and players also voiced against the Impact Player rule.
“I generally feel that it is going to hold back the development of allrounders because eventually cricket is played by 11 players, not 12 players. I’m not a big fan of impact players. You are taking out so much from the game just to make it a little entertainment for the people around,” Rohit Sharma said on the Club Prairie Podcast in April.
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Should it stay in IPL 2025?
If Team India need to develop the next Hardik Pandya, the Impact Sub rule will not help the BCCI in this cause. Scrapping the rule will take away the shine from IPL 2025 for sure but it will be good for Indian cricket. Franchises will be keen to give more chances to the likes of Nitish Reddy. But even though there has been no consensus, BCCI has surely made a note of India captain Rohit Sharma and former captain Virat Kohli‘s opinions.
Whether the rule survives IPL 2025 will be decided next week. But if it does, the lifespan of the rule isn’t long.
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