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According to R Ashwin, the Impact Player rule has added a strategic component to the IPL that will disappear if it is removed.
The rule has been heavily criticised by a number of people, including Rohit Sharma, who isn’t a “big fan”. The main complaint is that it inhibits the development of all-arounders. In addition, teams have begun to score more runs as a result of having an extra batter (if the team so chooses).
“Why I think the Impact Player rule is not so bad is because it gives a little more value for strategy,” Ashwin said on Kris Srikkanth’s YouTube show Cheeky Cheeka. “The other side of that argument is it doesn’t encourage allrounders. 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.”
Ashwin cited an example from Qualifier 2 of IPL 2024 to underline his stance. “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.
“Games are tighter, an extra player is getting to play. Barring Kolkata or Mumbai, where scores skyrocketed, they haven’t been a drastic change elsewhere. Like at Punjab Kings’ home venue [Mullanpur], they were all 160-170 games.”
There is going to be a huge auction somewhere. The IPL is still discussing the retention rules for the auction, and one of the topics on the table is bringing back the Right to Match (RTM), which hasn’t been utilised at IPL auctions since 2018. Not in its current shape, Ashwin doesn’t want it.
“If a franchise has released a player because they don’t see him in their top four or five, then what gives them the right to jump in during an auction,” Ashwin argued. “You give the option to the player asking if he wants to be right to matched. There should be a contract binding the two parties, which says he can be RTMed only if the price is X amount and leave that pre-determined amount to be decided by the player.”