<p>Bengaluru: Ever since its inception in the IPL in 2023, the Impact Player rule has come in for severe criticism, especially from the Indian captains. The unanimous opinion amongst most is that it curtails the growth of all-rounders and takes the charm out of the game, which is supposed to be played between XI vs XI.</p>.<p>Despite the heavy criticism from many quarters, the silver lining is that it offers a chance for those who may not have necessarily made the cut for the playing XI. And many have used it to their advantage.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/rcb">Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s</a> Rs 7 crore acquisition Venkatesh Iyer, struggling to find a regular place in the XI, played a game against Rajasthan Royals as an impact sub. The 31-year-old, who once was critical of Impact Player rule during his five-year stay with Kolkata Knight Riders, seems to have a change of heart now.</p>.IPL needs urgency as over-rate delays stretch matches beyond schedule.<p>“It's actually a very tricky question. Impact Player never stopped a <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/hardik-pandya">Hardik (Pandya</a>) or a (Andre) Russell or a (Sunil) Narine from bowling four overs. It's not stopping Nitish Reddy from bowling four overs. If you have the skill set and if a captain believes in you, then you will still be the all-rounder that your team wants,” reckoned Iyer.</p>.<p>“All what it does is actually gives you the opportunity to brush up your all-round skills. It actually pushes you to be the best all-rounder version that you can be. But yeah, especially when India needs a lot of fast bowlers, India needs players who can contribute in both facets.”</p>.<p>Iyer, however, admitted that captains prefer playing specialists as an Impact Player rather than all-rounders who are a bit of both. “It does curtail the opportunity for the one and two-over bowlers. One thing that it does is, it simplifies captaincy on the field.</p>.<p>“There are a lot of occasions where I've captained teams, maybe not in the IPL but my state teams (Madhya Pradesh) as well. If I'm the captain, I need to figure out how to use my five bowlers and how to give my sixth bowler a go. But with the Impact Player, your sixth bowler is also a specialist bowler. So that is something that Impact Player has taken away.</p>.<p>“But again, it has made cricket more interesting. It has paved the way for more tactical thinking. But it would be great if the all-rounders who bowl one or two overs could get to bowl more,” Iyer concluded.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Ever since its inception in the IPL in 2023, the Impact Player rule has come in for severe criticism, especially from the Indian captains. The unanimous opinion amongst most is that it curtails the growth of all-rounders and takes the charm out of the game, which is supposed to be played between XI vs XI.</p>.<p>Despite the heavy criticism from many quarters, the silver lining is that it offers a chance for those who may not have necessarily made the cut for the playing XI. And many have used it to their advantage.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/rcb">Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s</a> Rs 7 crore acquisition Venkatesh Iyer, struggling to find a regular place in the XI, played a game against Rajasthan Royals as an impact sub. The 31-year-old, who once was critical of Impact Player rule during his five-year stay with Kolkata Knight Riders, seems to have a change of heart now.</p>.IPL needs urgency as over-rate delays stretch matches beyond schedule.<p>“It's actually a very tricky question. Impact Player never stopped a <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/hardik-pandya">Hardik (Pandya</a>) or a (Andre) Russell or a (Sunil) Narine from bowling four overs. It's not stopping Nitish Reddy from bowling four overs. If you have the skill set and if a captain believes in you, then you will still be the all-rounder that your team wants,” reckoned Iyer.</p>.<p>“All what it does is actually gives you the opportunity to brush up your all-round skills. It actually pushes you to be the best all-rounder version that you can be. But yeah, especially when India needs a lot of fast bowlers, India needs players who can contribute in both facets.”</p>.<p>Iyer, however, admitted that captains prefer playing specialists as an Impact Player rather than all-rounders who are a bit of both. “It does curtail the opportunity for the one and two-over bowlers. One thing that it does is, it simplifies captaincy on the field.</p>.<p>“There are a lot of occasions where I've captained teams, maybe not in the IPL but my state teams (Madhya Pradesh) as well. If I'm the captain, I need to figure out how to use my five bowlers and how to give my sixth bowler a go. But with the Impact Player, your sixth bowler is also a specialist bowler. So that is something that Impact Player has taken away.</p>.<p>“But again, it has made cricket more interesting. It has paved the way for more tactical thinking. But it would be great if the all-rounders who bowl one or two overs could get to bowl more,” Iyer concluded.</p>