Introduced in the IPL 2023 season, the Impact Player rule is all set to make a return during IPL 2025. The basic concept of the Impact Player in the IPL is to allow one substitute player per team to play an active part in matches with bat or ball.
An impact player is distinctly different from the regular substitution rule in international cricket, which allows a substitute fielder to replace an injured player on the field but they cannot bat or bowl in the match. Though concussion subs in international cricket can bat and bowl, it’s an injury-forced substitution rather than a tactical one like the Impact Player rule.
First impact player in IPL
Pacer Tushar Deshpande made history by becoming the first ‘Impact Player’ in the history of the Indian Premier League. Deshpande replaced Ambati Rayudu for Chennai Super Kings during the IPL 2023 opener against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Impact player rule in IPL
The Impact Player rule in the IPL allows teams to name five substitute players in addition to their playing XI before a match starts. During the match, captains of both teams can nominate any one of these five substitutes to replace one of the players in the starting XI during any of the natural breaks of the match. These include the start of an innings, at the end of an over, at the fall of a wicket, or when a batter retires.
But if a bowling side brings on an impact player after the fall of a wicket or in the event of a batter retiring in the middle of an over, the incoming substitute cannot bowl the remaining balls of that over.
The player in the starting XI who is replaced by the Impact Player can play no further part in the match. A team is allowed a maximum of one Impact Player substitute in a match.
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