Delhi Capitals’ player Axar Patel shared his dissatisfaction with the Impact Player rule on Monday, stating that teams mostly opt to use specialist batsmen and bowlers as substitutes under the rule, which reduces the importance of all-rounders like himself. The Impact Player rule has been in place since IPL 2023, but it’s only this year that many national and international players have started to speak out against it.
As a result, most all-rounders have stopped bowling in IPL 2024 because it’s not necessary, leading to higher batting totals and increased economy rates for bowlers.
“I am not a huge fan of the Impact Player rule,” Axar said at a DC media interaction for a select group of journalists. “Teams either use proper batters or proper bowlers but no body is using all-rounders. So I am not a fan of it.”
DC has also favoured using specialist young batsmen over Axar this season, resulting in him being pushed down the batting order, which has affected his usual performance. The spinning all-rounder mentioned that he has discussed batting higher up the order with the team management, but it’s not feasible because they want to give the young players a chance to bat in their preferred positions early in their IPL careers.
Consequently, as the senior player, Axar often finds himself in the finishing role. The 30-year-old also addressed how this has impacted his bowling, stating:
“Whoever is making the rules is thinking that only batting will decide where the game would go (smiles). It has obviously become very difficult for bowlers. But the way I see it is, there’s pressure but there’s also opportunity to do well in such situations and using your skills.”
“Because of the Impact Player rule, there’s an extra player. Teams think that if the batting doesn’t do well, they can get an extra batter and if it does well, they’ll get an extra bowler. So, whoever comes in starts hitting from the first ball. I am seeing this from the last two years that no one likes to take time because they know they can have batters till number seven or eight.”
When questioned about the challenge of facing a barrage of attacks from both ends as a bowler, Axar mentioned that he avoids viewing it as a difficult situation to prevent negativity. Instead, he emphasized that he concentrates on his strengths and strategies to dismiss the batsmen.
“I don’t follow matches”- Axar Patel
Axar also added that he refrains from setting personal goals or keeping track of other matches in the tournament to alleviate the pressure of national selection.
“I don’t watch matches! (laughs) There are so many matches going on so I don’t watch. At the end, I just check the scores. I have been playing cricket for so long and in the last few years it has always been the case that there’s either a World Cup or a big series after the IPL.”
“I am so used to it and you can also see my World Cup record with injuries (smiles)… so I just remain relaxed and not think too much except that I just need to do well here and the road ahead will form itself,” Axar remarked.
The spinner and Delhi Capitals will play against the Gujarat Titans on Wednesday, April 24th.
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