Rohit Sharma opens up about 'Impact Player' rule

Rohit Sharma isn’t a fan of the ‘Impact Player’ rule, which came into play during the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament of 2022-23. Speaking on the Club Prairie Podcast, the India captain expressed his concerns about how the rule affects the development of allrounders.

His comments come ahead of the T20 World Cup, where India faces a challenge in finding the right balance in their squad. While their top-order batters lack bowling skills, Rohit hopes for Hardik Pandya to regain form as the seam-bowling all-rounder and relies on Ravindra Jadeja’s spin-bowling abilities.

Impact of the ‘Impact Player’ rule on allrounders

“I generally feel that it is going to hold back [allrounders] because eventually cricket is played by 11 players, not 12 players,” Rohit  shared on a podcast, which also featured Adam Gilchrist and Michael Vaughan.

“I’m not a big fan of impact player. You are taking out so much from the game just to make it little entertaining for the people around. But if you look [at] genuinely just cricketing aspect of it… I can give you so many examples – guys like Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube are not getting to bowl, which for us [India team] is not a good thing.”

In India’s last T20I series before the IPL, Dube showcased his skills by claiming two wickets and scoring 124 runs at a high strike-rate. However, the ‘Impact Substitute’ rule limits his bowling opportunities. Similarly, Sunrisers Hyderabad has had limited use of Washington Sundar’s bowling services.

Dube’s selection faces dilemma

“I don’t know what you can do about it, but I’m not a fan of it [the rule] honestly speaking,” he said. “Because there’s obviously 12 players for you to select from and whoever that impact player is, you can see how the game is going and change it later depending on what you need, what pitch is behaving.

“If you bat well, if you don’t lose wickets, you can add another bowler so it gives you an option of having six or seven bowlers. You don’t need that extra batter because a lot of the teams actually upfront are batting well, and then you hardly see Nos. 7 or 8 coming to bat.”

See Also: Devon Conway ruled out of IPL; Replacement announced

This rule might affect Dube’s selection in the squad, despite his spin-hitting prowess, which is crucial for India’s middle-order on slow pitches. As for the IPL’s future with this rule, Rohit doesn’t have clear solutions in mind.