‘You have to evolve with times’: Ravi Shastri back Impact Player rule as debate continues to rage in IPL 2024

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri and ace India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin have backed the Impact Player rule, saying that one has to evolve with time. The rule has faced quite some flak over the last one and a half months, especially from bowlers, who have been taken to the cleaners on most occasions after the impact player, mostly a batter, has been introduced into the game.

The Impact Player rule has been handed the responsibility for the high scores recorded in IPL 2024. Rohit Sharma has said that the rule has been hampering the growth of allrounders in India.

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The Indian team captain was the first big player to criticise the Impact Player rule, which came into IPL 203 after being experimented with in the domestic Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament, allowing sides to bring in a 12th player at any point in a game to replace a player from the playing XI.

“The Impact Player is good. You have to evolve with the times. You know, it happens in other sports as well. It’s got tighter finishes. You have to evolve with the times and I think it’s a good rule. You saw the number of tight finishes we had in last year’s IPL”, Ravi Shastri said while speaking on Ashwin’s YT channel.

Ravichandran Ashwin gave the example of Dhruv Jurel, who started his IPL career as an Impact Player last season and went on to make his Test debut for India within a year.

“You know when any new rule comes in, there will be… people will try and justify why that’s not right. But in time when you see the scores, 200 and 190 and then like you mentioned individuals grabbing that opportunity and making the most of it, people will start re-looking at how they think about it,” Shastri said.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah has said that the Impact Player rule is “not permanent” and that a call on its use in subsequent editions of IPL will be taken after a discussion with stakeholders after the upcoming T20 World Cup.

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“Impact Players is like a test case. We have implemented it slowly. The biggest advantage of it is that two Indian players are getting a chance, which is the most important. We will consult with the players, franchises, broadcasters,” Shah said.