The bat and ball are out of balance. Impact player rule has outlived its usefulness for three reasons

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is not open to adopting new regulations or technological advancements. Whether it was the persistent opposition to sending their male cricket players to compete in international T20 tournaments or the delayed implementation of the Decision Review System (DRS),. It was unexpected, therefore, when the impact player was abruptly added to both the Indian local T20 league and the 2023 IPL. There were limitations even though this was not a brand-new rule—the Big Bash League (BBL) had previously used it as an X-factor.

 

A side could only activate the X-factor player by the tenth over of the first innings. In contrast, clubs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) are allowed to substitute any player they see fit, regardless of how much of an influence they have had up to that point in the game.

Since it put the teams’ bench strengths and strategies to the test and allowed Indian players more opportunities to show off their abilities, at first it appeared like a respectable innovation. But, even if the teams are more equipped to use it at this point in the competition—one and a half seasons in—its shortcomings and restrictions have become too significant and obvious to be disregarded, and they may potentially harm Indian cricket in the future.

1. Asymmetry between the bat and the ball

The impact player has undoubtedly had an influence on scores of 230, reaching 260–270, which has shockingly become a standard in the 2024 IPL. Conditions, pitch, and surface will determine how the batters play. Because they know that a pure hitter will bat at No. 8, the impact player has enabled the top-order to come out guns blazing. This has allowed them to take a few more chances than they had before, and the bowlers—who don’t have much to gain in T20 cricket anyway—are suffering even more.

Although the surface and ball movement will mostly determine the scores, it hasn’t helped the game on small fields with belter surfaces and short boundaries, where a team scoring 260-270 could have won the match in the first innings alone. The GT vs. DC and PBKS vs. GT games in Ahmedabad and Mullanpur are recent examples. Particularly, Sunrisers Hyderabad have taken full advantage of it, smashing three of the top five team scores in a single season.

Since there wouldn’t be an impact player, the batting may stop at 6/7, and the bowlers would have a somewhat higher chance of staying in the game and creating opportunities.

2. Indian all-rounders don’t have enough opportunities

With the impact player rule in place, players like Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, and even Nitish Reddy, Rahul Tewatia, and Hardik Pandya—some of the most important Indian all-rounders on display in the tournament—do not have to use one of their two skills exclusively, which could ultimately hurt Indian cricket in the future. Particularly in the speed category, India already has a few two-in-one all-round players, and they are also not as much needed.

Tewatia is not even regarded as a bowler; instead, he is essentially a finisher for the Gujarat Titans. Even though he is the Mumbai Indians captain, Hardik Pandya is free to choose the situations and games in which he want to bowl, and Shivam Dube is used as an impact player. Similar things happened to Nitish Reddy, who bowled three overs in one game and not even one in the next, and Sundar, who the Sunrisers Hyderabad are also using as an impact sub. The impact player luxury isn’t available in international cricket, and teams must bowl regardless of the opponent or the state of the match. As a result, they must bowl more all-rounders to have a chance at the top level.

3. Allowing clubs to get away with having gaps in their lineups, almost as a justification for their auction missteps

With Kagiso Rabada batting at No. 8 and Punjab Kings having an impact player, they had a chance to chase down 191 against the Mumbai Indians even though, at 14/4, they had no business being in the hunt at all. The players and teams have almost given up on the impact player, using it as a justification to reduce playing time due to roster leaks. Even if the team may not be strong enough to compete structurally or the players may not be in peak shape, having an additional player helps the squad remain in the game despite all of the errors they made throughout the competition and at the auction table.

The impact player has been a good invention that keeps fans engaged for the whole game because of how close the two teams have become, as well as the teams’ interest in the game because their batting lineups never seem to end and the opposition is never able to relax. However, it offers a side much more leniency than they earned and has further skewed the game in favor of the hitters, which may not be the best outcome. This occurred in the Punjab Kings vs. Mumbai Indians game as well. The BBL eliminated the regulation after a few seasons, and the Indian Premier League may follow suit.