The newly appointed mentor of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Zaheer Khan has supported the impact player rule of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which he thinks that it helps in the development of Indian cricket. Zaheer began his role as the mentor to the team on Wednesday after Gautam Gambhir quit in late 2023 to pay more attention to his responsibilities of being the coach of India.
Zaheer spoke about the sub-rule regarding impact players during a press conference that took place at the owner’s headquarters. “There has been a debate surrounding effect of this sub-rule. I am on record that I support it completely”, said Zaheer stressing on why he supports it.
The Mixed Reactions of Impact Player Rule in IPL 2023 The impact player rule was first introduced during the 2023 IPL season and has a broad spectrum of reviews. Some prominent players such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have shown their disapproval. According to Kohli, this type of a rule is what has made the game uneven while Rohit said he was “not a big fan of it”.
Zaheer Khan endorsed the Indian Premier League’s impact player rule
In July, talks among IPL team owners and BCCI officials showed a lack of agreement on whether to maintain the rule, alongside other major issues like the potential for a mega auction.
Despite the mixed responses, Zaheer, a former Mumbai Indians player and the franchise’s former director of cricket, is confident that the impact player rule has created valuable opportunities for young and uncapped Indian players.
He said: “It has definitely provided opportunities for many uncapped Indian players. During the mega auction, we shall see when teams will start centering their attention on these children.”
Zaheer also emphasized the significance of match experience in emerging cricket players. He observed that the most important advantage is the time spent on the field during games.
When addressing worries about how it will affect all-rounders, however, Zaheer clarified that there may be less space for semi-all-rounders because of the influence of substitutes on the game but true all-rounders will remain useful. “If you are a genuine all-rounder then nobody can prevent you from performing well. You would still be valued because of your dual ability to bowl and bat,” he added.
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