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Team India spin-bowling all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has called for the Impact Player rule in the IPL to continue, highlighting the strategic value it has added to the game. The Impact Player rule, that allows a 12th player to replace any player in the 11 during the game, came into existence from IPL 2023.
However, after two years, it has induced mixed reactions with a majority, including Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, criticizing it for preventing the development of all-rounders.
Talking about the same on Kris Srikkanth's YouTube channel Cheeky Cheeka, Ashwin said as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo:
"Why I think the Impact Player rule is not so bad is because it gives a little more value for strategy. The other side of that argument is it doesn't encourage all-rounders. But no one is stopping them. In this generation, they don't do it [batters bowling and vice-versa]. It's not like they're discouraged because of the Impact Player rule. Look at Venkatesh Iyer, he's currently rocking for Lancashire. There's an opportunity for innovation and it makes the game fairer."
Ashwin cited the example of Shahbaz Ahmed coming in as the Impact Player for SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and producing a match-winning performance against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the IPL 2024 Qualifier 2.
"Sunrisers [Hyderabad] brought in Shahbaz Ahmed as an Impact Player [vs Rajasthan Royals, after hitting 175 for 9 batting first]; he went on to become a match-winner [with 3 for 23]. When dew has the potential to make games one-sided, teams bowling second get an extra option as a counter. If you're batting second, you can tactically make a substitution by offloading the extra bowler for a batter," said Ashwin.
Shahbaz scored a crucial 18 with the bat at No.8 to help SRH recover from 120/6 to post a competitive 175/9 in 20 overs. He then picked up excellent figures of 3/23 in four overs to help SRH win by 36 runs and qualify for the final.
"If not for the Impact Player rule, he may have never gotten the chance" - Ravichandran Ashwin on Dhruv Jurel
Ravichandran Ashwin pointed to wicket-keeper batter Dhruv Jurel being among the biggest beneficiaries of the Impact Player rule and how he eventually made his India debut through IPL performances over the last two years.
The 23-year-old often batted for RR as the Impact Player last year, pulling off several incredible cameos. It led to him becoming a regular in their 11 this year and debuting for India in the Test series against England in February.
"Shahbaz Ahmed, Shivam Dube most importantly, Dhruv Jurel… If not for the Impact Player rule, he may have never gotten the chance. So the emergence of a lot of players has happened. I'm not saying that's the only way for players to emerge, but it's not so bad," said Ashwin during the same discussion.
Jurel played a massive role in India winning the England series 4-1, scoring 190 runs at an average of 63.33 in the three Tests he played.
