<p>Bengaluru: Since its introduction in the 2023 season, the Impact Player rule has come under severe criticism from a vast majority of the Indian players and captains. Former Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma and his successor Hardik Pandya felt it curtails the growth of all-rounders, forcing them to pick a player — substitute in this case — based purely on his batting or bowling skills, reports Sidney Kiran.</p>.<p>This year too, the controversial move by the BCCI which was first trialled in the 2022-23 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, attracted a lot of flak. Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel said he ‘doesn’t like it’ while his Gujarat Titans counterpart Shubman Gill believes “it takes the skill out of the game” as “cricket in general is an 11-players’ game”.</p>.<p>Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach Andy Flower (in pic) felt the Impact Player rule, which the BCCI confirmed will stay until 2027 despite the massive hue and cry over it, is a good innovation that can help teams hide their weaknesses.</p>.<p>“I don’t like sitting on the fence on stuff, but I’m going to give a couple of arguments. I think it has been a good innovation. It’s interesting to be part of it when you’re making decisions on the Impact Player, sometimes the timing of the input from the Impact Player,” Flower started.</p>.<p>“I think it’s interesting for the audience and the followers to debate what’s right and what’s wrong. So tactically, it’s quite an interesting addition to the game. I must say though that one of the things I love about cricket is that when you select an eleven, one of the challenges you have is balancing your eleven. So balancing the length of the batting order, balancing perhaps some guys that can’t field that well and taking those things into consideration. </p>.<p>“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 perhaps single-skilled players, you weaken another area of your game. The Impact Player can hide that,” Flower concluded.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Since its introduction in the 2023 season, the Impact Player rule has come under severe criticism from a vast majority of the Indian players and captains. Former Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma and his successor Hardik Pandya felt it curtails the growth of all-rounders, forcing them to pick a player — substitute in this case — based purely on his batting or bowling skills, reports Sidney Kiran.</p>.<p>This year too, the controversial move by the BCCI which was first trialled in the 2022-23 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, attracted a lot of flak. Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel said he ‘doesn’t like it’ while his Gujarat Titans counterpart Shubman Gill believes “it takes the skill out of the game” as “cricket in general is an 11-players’ game”.</p>.<p>Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach Andy Flower (in pic) felt the Impact Player rule, which the BCCI confirmed will stay until 2027 despite the massive hue and cry over it, is a good innovation that can help teams hide their weaknesses.</p>.<p>“I don’t like sitting on the fence on stuff, but I’m going to give a couple of arguments. I think it has been a good innovation. It’s interesting to be part of it when you’re making decisions on the Impact Player, sometimes the timing of the input from the Impact Player,” Flower started.</p>.<p>“I think it’s interesting for the audience and the followers to debate what’s right and what’s wrong. So tactically, it’s quite an interesting addition to the game. I must say though that one of the things I love about cricket is that when you select an eleven, one of the challenges you have is balancing your eleven. So balancing the length of the batting order, balancing perhaps some guys that can’t field that well and taking those things into consideration. </p>.<p>“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 perhaps single-skilled players, you weaken another area of your game. The Impact Player can hide that,” Flower concluded.</p>