Hyderabad: In the landscape of T20 cricket, the Indian Premier League (IPL) stands as a beacon of innovation and excitement, pushing the boundaries of new possibilities. Traditionally, the format has been synonymous with batters showcasing their power-hitting prowess, treating fans to a spectacle of some captivating scenes in the middle. However, in the IPL 2024, the run-scoring extravagance has reached completely new levels and scoring 250-plus totals has become the new normal. The primary reason has been the liberty teams have to send the pure batter at number eight, causing a seismic shift in the balance between bat and ball.
What is the rule? The Impact Player Rule was introduced to the Indian Premier League in 2023. As per this rule, each team can replace a player from the playing XI with a substitute.
How the Impact Player rule changed the dynamics of IPL: There was a time when a target of 250 runs in an ODI game was considered to be a pretty challenging total. But the scenario has completely changed, and crossing the 200-run mark in the T20s is becoming a regular occurrence, especially in the IPL. A closer look at the IPL's record books reveals a startling trend - six out of the top seven highest team totals in the tournament's history have been amassed after the introduction of the Impact player rule in IPL 2023. The ongoing edition has witnessed the teams scoring the highest team total and the highest second-inning total as well in T20 cricket history. Before 2024, teams breached the 250-run mark only twice (RCB vs PWI In 2013), and (LSG vs PBKS In 2023), but in the IPL 2024, teams have scored 250-plus totals on eight occasions so far.
This surge in scoring highlights the changing dynamics of the shortest formats and its demands to score runs at a rapid pace. If you look at the average runs scored per inning in the last three years since the introduction of the Impact Player rule, it has witnessed a jump of around 10 runs each year. In IPL 2022, teams scored 21,774 runs in 140 innings averaging 155.52 runs per innings throughout the season. This average jumped to 166.65 in the 2023 season when the 'Impact Player' rule was introduced.
There was another spike in the average runs scored per inning in the next season by around 10 runs as the teams started to post 175.46 runs per inning.
Impact on the development of all-rounders: This rule is significantly hampering the progress of all-rounders, especially in Indian cricket. The rule allows the teams to add an extra batter or extra bowler in their lineup and so some of the Indian all-rounders are under-utilised by the franchises. This trend is an issue of concern for the Indian team, which historically has had a scarcity of seam-bowling all-rounders in the past.
For example, Shivam Dube, known for his explosive batting, wasn’t given any overs by Chennai Super Kings despite being picked in the Indian T20 World Cup squad. Similarly, Abhishek Sharma, a promising young prospect, has seen his left-arm spin largely overlooked, albeit his explosive batting has grabbed attention.
Dube has bowled only six deliveries in the whole tournament and has also picked a wicket in it, conceding 14 runs while Abhishek Sharma has bowled only three overs in the current edition. Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) Vyankatesh Iyer has also bowled only one over. There are other all-rounders as well who bowl for their domestic side regularly but they didn’t get to bowl at all in the ongoing season of the cash-rich league. Punjab Kings' Shashank Singh, Gujarat Titans' Rahul Tewatia, and Lucknow Super Giants' Deepak Hooda are the ones who haven't bowled at all.
This predicament has raised apprehensions among players and captains alike, including Rohit Sharma, who expressed reservations about the rule’s impact on the development of all-rounders and its detrimental effect on the format.
"I am not a big fan of Impact sub-rule. It is going to hold all-rounders back, eventually, cricket is played by 11 players, not 12 players. You are taking out so much from the game to make it entertaining for people around,” he said on Club Prairie Podcast.
Challenges Indian Cricket Might Face: The rule's repercussions extend beyond individual players, affecting the dynamics of both IPL franchises and the Indian national team. With the IPL serving as a platform for India’s T20 World Cup preparation, the impact player rule causes a disparity between IPL cricket and international cricket.
The utilisation of the Impact Player rule by franchises is allowing them to use the rule to extend the depth of the batting unit up to No.8 whereas the national side doesn’t have that liberty with the lack of any such rule. Also, in the bowling department, IPL teams get one extra bowler when they come to the field stretching their bowling options while at the international stage, you have to stick with the bowling options included in the team announced at the toss.
As the league continues to evolve, striking the right balance between power-hitting which provides entertainment and an even contest between bat and ball will remain a paramount challenge for stakeholders. Many former cricketers and cricket experts have also raised concerns about the implications of the rule and have expressed the need to rethink about it.
Aakash Chopra, former India cricketer and renowned Hindi commentator said "Even if the Impact Player rule gets reconsidered, it may actually still exist. But we may have another twist to the tail that allows the excitement to come through and the bowler to also make a mark. Because it is also the fact that we have seen more close games night after night as compared to the years earlier before the introduction of the Impact Player rule."
The 46-year-old also shared his radical suggestion for a rule change if they reconsider the rule saying that currently the dices are loaded a little bit in the favour of the batters.
"The ship has sailed a little bit. We may have to go back to the rule and remove it. My slightly radical suggestion is that if you have a bowler like (Jasprit) Bumrah, (Matheesha) Pathirana or Sunil Narine, there are bowlers who still go for 25-30 runs in their four overs. They are not the bowlers who are conceding 70. So, if you have a bowler like (Bumrah or Pathirana), saying this is my bowler and if he gets one or two extra overs every innings, that may just ease out things a little more," added Chopra, who played 10 Tests.
The consistent surge in the run-scoring due to the impact player rule has indicated that there have to be some rethinking around the regulation. Adding the entertainment factor to the game with raining fours and sixes is quite fine but with the teams scoring 250-plus totals every now and then, there is a need to find the right balance. With this season heading to its conclusion, the BCCI might need to take a call on the application of the rule in the next edition to bring back the balance in the game which is fading away at the moment.
