The negatives of IPL Impact Player rule far outweigh the positives

With nearly 15 matches played so far in the IPL 2023 tournament, we have seen how the 'Impact Player' rule is changing the strategy of the teams.

The new rule, borrowed from Australia's Big Bash League (BBL) allows teams to bring in a 12th player from a list of 5 substitute players who can be part of the Playing XI.

It has become more like a 12-man show now instead of 11, where a team can easily bring in a specialist death-over bowler or a power hitter in the middle of the game.

But then, we have also seen that 4 matches have been turned around by Impact Players, with the last one being Kolkata Knight Riders vs Gujarat Titans on April 9, where Venkatesh Iyer was substituted with Suyash Sharma, who played a match-winning knock of 83 off 40 balls.

As the team had to chase a target of 200+ runs, Iyer was brought in to deepen the batting line-up. And KKR later won the match, thanks to the heroics of Rinku Singh, who smashed five sixes in a row in an over that needed 29 runs to win. 

However, there are also several negatives of this rule, which is a reason why it has been scrapped by Cricket Australia (CA) after getting feedback from the teams and fans.

What are the negatives?

Unfair to the team batting first: The first con of the Impact Player rule is that it gives an edge to the bowling team to include a batter at the end of the first innings so as to strengthen their batting line-up.

For example, in the match last night between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), as RCB batters Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis beat bowlers black and blue, the LSG management brought in batter Ayush Badoni in, replacing Amit Mishra.

Mishra was the one who had taken the wicket of Virat Kohli and sensing that his job was over, the management brought in Badoni knowing that the target would be near 200. And Badoni did the needful as he made a crucial knock of 30 off 24 balls.

With the Impact Player rule, the batting team is on the losing end, as it has to score 20 more runs, knowing that the bowling side will definitely bring in an extra batter replacing a bowler in the team in the second innings.

This not only spoils the spirit of the game, but is also unfair to the batting side.

Will reduce relevance of all-rounders: As the teams now have an option of including a specialist batter or a specialist death-over bowler, why would teams crave all-rounders, knowing that they can include a specialist in the team in the middle of the game?

This also negates all the hard work the franchises put in at the auctions to make a balanced side. With the Impact Player, franchises who do not have all-rounders can now include specialist batters and bowlers in their teams.

Makes way for only one-dimensional players: The new rule will also push the young players to fine-tune their skills as a hitter or death bowler. It will discourage the players from adding multiple dimensional skills in them, knowing that at the end, only their one-dimensional utility will come into play. 

Now, the pros...

One pro, or perhaps the only plus point of the Impact Player rule is that it makes the game more interesting for fans. 

Just like football, where players are sent in by coaches right at the spun of the moment with clear instructions on how to carry the game forward; in cricket too, now franchises can prepare specific strategies for the Impact Players telling them what they want from them.

No fielding: This is also another benefit, for players who cannot field all 20 overs and can come in only when it's their turn to bowl or bat.

When their work is done, the team can bring in the substitute 12th player for fielding. 

Will this rule last? 

Though it's too early to pass a verdict, the Impact Player rule for sure has its negatives outweighing its positives. 

In an attempt to copy football games' momentum, the Impact Player rules kind of becomes unfair for the teams who have been toiling so hard to get a perfect Playing XI in place.

The Impact Player rule might be scrapped by next year, if the franchises and fans are not happy with it.