The Impact Player rule has given him “nightmares”, but Ricky Ponting, Delhi Capitals’ head coach, is happy for the IPL to retain it if it is making the tournament a “better spectacle.” The Impact Player rule in IPL might be hampering the growth of all-rounders but Ricky Ponting said that fans should be able to decide on the future of this contentious system.
Ricky Ponting has never been a strong advocate of the Impact Player and the debate gained momentum after Rohit Sharma in a recent YouTube podcast said that he is not a “fan of the rule” as it hurts development of Indian all-rounders.
The Impact Player Rule in IPL.
Introduced to the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the 2023 season, the Impact Player rule is all set to make a return during IPL 2024.
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. Here’s a closer look at the IPL’s Impact Player rule.
The Impact Player rule in the IPL allows teams to name five substitute players in addition to their playing XI before a match.
After the match starts, 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. However, the Impact Player can bowl his full quota of four overs irrespective of how many overs the player he is replacing has bowled before getting substituted.
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.
There’s one caveat, however. If a team has named the maximum-allowed four overseas players in their starting XI, they can only bring on an Indian as their Impact Player. In case a team has named three or fewer overseas players in their starting XI, they can bring on another foreign recruit from the substitutes’ list as the Impact Player.
Impact Players and their roles in IPL.
On March 31, 2023, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) youngster Tushar Deshpande became the first Impact Player in IPL history after replacing Ambati Rayudu in the IPL 2023 season-opener against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Frequent use of Impact Players in IPL 2023 also showcased the team’s willingness to adapt the rule into a tactical advantage for themselves in matches. CSK, the eventual champions, made good use of the rule. Kolkata Knight Riders’ Venkatesh Iyer and Rajasthan Royals’ Dhruv Jurel also shone as Impact Players in IPL 2023.
The rule opens up an array of strategic options and tactical possibilities for teams to exploit and has added a new dimension to the IPL as a whole. The Impact Player rule, however, is still in its nascent stages and only time will tell if teams want to keep using it. Ricky Ponting has never been a strong advocate of the Impact Player and the debate gained momentum after Rohit Sharma in a recent YouTube podcast said that he is not a “fan of the rule” as it hurts development of Indian all-rounders.
Sensational DC coach Ricky Ponting has his say on the Impact Player rule in IPL 2024.
The Impact Player rule in IPL might be hampering the growth of all-rounders but Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting said on Friday that fans should be able to decide on the future of this contentious system. Ricky Ponting has never been a strong advocate of the Impact Player and the debate gained momentum after Rohit Sharma in a recent YouTube podcast said that he is not a “fan of the rule” as it hurts development of Indian all-rounders.
“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,” Ponting said ahead of DC’s match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday.
“From a player’s point and a coach’s point of view, the game would be much easier if you just pick 11, just pick your best 11 and put the 11 on the park and go and play,” Ponting said. “Because I’ll tell you now, we’ll sit back after training tonight and select our teams and you’ve got to pick two teams and you’ve got to have your five impact guys.
“There’s so many different ways you can go around doing that, looking at different combinations. It actually can be a bit of a nightmare.”
The Impact Player has helped teams, especially those stacked with power hitters such as Sunrisers and Kolkata Knight Riders, to bat explosively across the three phases this season and set totals in excess of 250 more than once. A total of 549 runs were scored in what was a batting gala in Bengaluru where RCB lost to Sunrisers by 25 runs.
Ponting, who was busy overseeing Capitals’ training on Monday evening in Motera, was informed by his son Fletcher about Sunrisers making 287 in Bengaluru on the back of a blistering Travis Head century.
Later in the evening Ricky Ponting received several messages from friends who were astonished by the slew of records broken in Bengaluru including that for the most sixes in a team innings. “It looks to me like [the Impact Player is] having an impact on the game,” Ponting said. “More runs are being scored. So you’d think people that were sitting back and watching that game last night would be mesmerized by the cricket. I was getting messages last night saying what a crazy game of cricket, what an unbelievable game of cricket.
“So if the Impact Player is making it a better spectacle, then it should stay.” concluded Ponting.
DC is set to take on SRH on 04th April at Arun Jaitley Stadium New Delhi.