While players like Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma say that the introduction of the Impact Player rule takes away the skills out of the game, Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach Andy Flower feels differently. According to the former Zimbabwe player, the Impact Player rule was a “good innovation” as it offers tactical flexibility to teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“I think it has been a good innovation, it’s interesting to be part of it. You’re making decisions on the impact player, and I think it’s interesting for the audience to debate what’s right and what’s wrong, so tactically it’s quite an interesting addition to the game,” Flower said on the eve of IPL’s 2026 season-opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“I must say that one of the things I love about cricket is that when you select an 11, one of the challenges you have is balancing your 11 – the length of the batting order, balancing, perhaps, some guys that can’t feel that well and it’s one of the things that makes selection a little bit tricky. The impact player rule hides that selection problem a little, so I think one of the great things about cricket is some of the debates around selection and when you select single-skilled players, you weaken another area of your game, the impact player can hide that, so there are pros and cons I think to it,” he added.
The Impact Player rule has recently been criticized by Gujarat Titans skipper Gill who said that he doesn’t like the concept as it takes ‘the skill out of the game’. “Personally for me, I don’t think there should be an impact player. I think cricket in general is an 11-players’ game and on wickets where we play on the grounds that we play, adding an extra batsman, I think it takes the skill out of the game,” he said on Thursday.
Even Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel has spoken against the rule, saying it instinctively reduced the role of an all-rounder in the playing XI. “I don’t like this rule, honestly, because I am an all-rounder (laughs),” Axar said in a media interaction when asked about the rule introduced in 2023. “Earlier, you would pick an allrounder for batting and bowling. Because of this rule, the team management goes for a particular batsman or bowler, thinking ‘Why do we need an allrounder?’
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“Since I am an allrounder, I don’t like the rule. At the same time, rules are rules and we need to follow them. From a personal point of view though, I don’t like the rule,” remarked Axar.
