In the view of team India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin who is also a spin-bowler, it is important to uphold the Impact Player rule in IPL as it has brought more tactics in to play. The Impact Player rule, which permits a 12th player to substitute any of the eleven players during a match was introduced from IPL 2023 onwards.
Yet, there have been mixed feelings about it after two years with most people including India’s captain Rohit Sharma arguing that it harms the growth of all-rounders. ESPN Cricinfo quotes him as saying:
“Why I think the Impact Player rule is not so bad is because it gives a little more value for strategy. The other side of that argument is it doesn’t encourage all-rounders. But no one is stopping them.”
“In this generation, they don’t do it [batters bowling and vice-versa]. It’s not like they’re discouraged because of the Impact Player rule. Look at Venkatesh Iyer, he’s currently rocking for Lancashire. There’s an opportunity for innovation and it makes the game fairer.”
Shahbaz Ahmed’s example was used by Ashwin to illustrate how he came as an Impact Player for SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and took home their victory from Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2024 Qualifier 2.
“Sunrisers [Hyderabad] brought in Shahbaz Ahmed as an Impact Player [vs Rajasthan Royals, after hitting 175 for 9 batting first]; he went on to become a match-winner [with 3 for 23].”
”When dew has the potential to make games one-sided, teams bowling second get an extra option as a counter. If you’re batting second, you can tactically make a substitution by offloading the extra bowler for a batter,” said Ashwin.
Shahbaz played an important role at his batting position of 8, scoring 18 runs that helped SRH comeback from 120/6 to reach a competitive total of 175/9 in 20 overs. He also gave awesome figures of 3/23 in four overs which aided SRHs win by 36 runs and made them qualify for the final.
“If not for the Impact Player rule, he may have never gotten the chance” – Ravichandran Ashwin on Dhruv Jurel
https://x.com/dhruvjurel21/status/1762064772613263806
Ravichandran Ashwin indicated that Dhruv Jurel, a wicket-keeper batter, is one of the players who gained most from the Impact Player rule and eventually made his debut for India through IPL in recent years.
Last season, the 23-year-old frequently batted for RR as an Impact Player and performed some breathtaking cameos. This earned him a consistent place in their XI during this current season, and he made his Test debut for India against England in February.
“Shahbaz Ahmed, Shivam Dube most importantly, Dhruv Jurel… If not for the Impact Player rule, he may have never gotten the chance. So the emergence of a lot of players has happened. I’m not saying that’s the only way for players to emerge, but it’s not so bad,” said Ashwin during the same discussion.
Jurel had a significant contribution to Indian victory over England by winning the series 4–1 with a total of 190 runs at an average of 63.33 in three tests.
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