Former Indian Test opener Sadagopan Ramesh has urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India to get rid of the Impact Player rule ahead of the next season of the Indian Premier League. Many players, including the great Sachin Tendulkar, have downvoted the idea of the Impact Player in the past.
Recently, the BCCI have written to all 10 franchises regarding their take on the Impact Player rule. The Impact Player rule was introduced in the IPL in the 2023 season and since then the rule has received mix reactions from experts.
The extra player has allowed the franchises to consistently score more than 220 runs and many feel India is not been able to develop their all-rounders because of the rule.
Ramesh said on Instagram handle, “This rule has already negatively affected Indian cricket. When Hardik Pandya isn’t there, we go two steps below to Nitish Kumar Reddy and even further down to Shivam Dube as the next option. So the gap between an ace all-rounder and the secondary options is widening. The removal of the Impact Player rule will only help India get a spin-bowling all-rounder like Ravindra Jadeja.”
“Also, when a player is only going to be used for batting, they stop working hard on their fielding. That results in their fielding skills going down when they play for India. The removal of this rule will also make the pure batters and bowlers perform better, as they’ll know that only if they produce something extra can they be in the 11 with the revival of all-rounders.”
Ramesh added that the IPL should be beneficial to Indian cricket and the Impact Player has had an impact on the rise of all-rounders.
“We’ve seen some players like Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Shubman Gill oppose this rule. A few others have supported it as it provides an extra option and increases the entertainment value. I personally feel the IPL has to be beneficial to Indian cricket. All-rounders have been adversely impacted by this rule. They used to be like gold before,” said Ramesh (via the aforementioned source).
It would be interesting to note BCCI’s final decision on the impact player rule ahead of IPL 2027.
