The impact Player concept which is set to introduce in the Indian Premier League 2023 could apply only to the Indian players, a report from BCCI says.
Impact Player Concept Only for Indian Players?
The rule is expected to have a major bearing in the upcoming IPL 2023 Auction set to host in Kochi on December 23.
Impact Player Rules
- The BCCI confirms Impact Player can be only an Indian, but an overseas player can be used on rare occasions such as less than 4 overseas players in the playing XI.
- Teams need to pick 4 substitutes along with the playing X1 during toss time & out of 4, only one can be used as an impact player.
- Captain will nominate the Impact Player
- Impact Player can be introduced before the start of the innings, or after the completion of the over, or after the fall of a wicket or after the batter retires anytime during the over.
Although BCCI has not yet confirmed the news as it is yet to share the regulations on how the rule will work, BCCI managers, who are in conversations with all participating franchises, have indicated that only Indian players could come in as the 12th player or as an active substitute during a match.
“From IPL 2023 season, a tactical concept will be introduced to add a new dimension to the IPL, wherein one substitute player per team will be able to take a more active role in an IPL match,” BCCI said.
As per our understanding, the decision of the Impact players concept for Indian players alone comes after the possibility of more foreign players in the playing 11 than allowed count.
The replacement of a foreign player in the place of an Indian player will exceed the allowed overseas player count among the playing 11. As per IPL rules, only 4 foreign players are allowed to feature in the IPL playing 11 – in order not to break this rule, BCCI might plan to introduce this rule only for Indian players.
In a recent note to the teams, the BCCI said, “…Also note that from IPL 2023 Season a tactical/strategic concept will be introduced to add a new dimension to IPL, wherein one substitute player per team will be able to take a more active part in an IPL match. The regulations pertaining to the same will be issued shortly.”
The general belief on this rule is that the Impact Player rule could considerably dilute the role of an all-rounder and increase the influence of specialists in a game.
The oscillation on this rule is based on the fact that a team can use a specialist bowler while bowling and replace him with a specialist batsman while chasing.
When Did Impact Player Concept Introduce in India?
The Impact Player concept was first introduced in this year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) and the BCCI is satisfied that the experiment was a big hit. The BCCI has drawn inspiration for this from football and a few other games where substitutes play a very active role.
“The concept is to allow one substitute player per team to take a more active part in a match. This would add a new tactical /strategic dimension to the game.
A number of team sports allow teams to make tactical substitutes i.e. football, rugby, basketball, baseball. The substitute is allowed to perform or participate like any other regular player,” the BCCI had said while introducing the rule in the SMAT earlier this year.
