Rohit Sharma is one of the few players who has been playing Indian Premier League (IPL) since its inception in 2008. The former Mumbai Indians captain has seen the cash-rich tournament evolve with time and how things changed in various seasons of IPL. In the 2023 season of IPL, an ‘Impact Player’ rule was introduced, which allowed the substitution of players during the game. Rohit Sharma is not very enthusiastic about that change as he believes that the IPL ‘Impact Rule’ holds back the development of all-rounders in the game.
'Impact Player' rule allows IPL teams to substitute a batter or bowler at any stage of the game according to the requirement of their strategy. The IPL teams use the rule to rest bowlers during their batting with an extra batter option while replacing the batter with an extra bowler during the bowling.
This is the major reason why Rohit Sharma doesn't like the rule as the Indian skipper thinks that it hampers the development of all-rounders. "I genuinely feel that it is going to hold back," Rohit Sharma said while speaking at the ‘Club Prairie Fire’ cricket podcase hosted by Michael Vaughan and Adam Gilchrist.
Rohit Sharma understands that the 'Impact Player' rule makes the game more entertaining for the viewers, but said that one can't compromise on the quality of the game just to make it more interesting. "Eventually, cricket is played by 11 players, not 12 players. I am not a big fan of 'Impact Player', you are taking out so much from the game just because of a little bit of entertainment, for people around," he pointed out.
"...I can give you so many examples, guys like Washington Sundar, and Shivam Dube are not getting to bowl. For us, it is not a good thing you know. I don't know what you can do about it but I am not a fan of it, frankly speaking," Rohit Sharma added.
Rohit Sharma's remarks came ahead of squad selection for the T20 World Cup 2024, which is expected in the first week of May. Apart from Hardik Pandya, India doesn't have many seam-bowling all-rounder options. The recent great performance by Shivam Dube has opened up his position to consideration, but Rohit Sharma's point is beyond any tournament.
"It is entertaining because there are 12 players, whoever the impact player is, you can change a player later seeing how the game goes, depending on how the pitch is behaving," Rohit Sharma said.
"If you bat well, don't lose wickets, you can add another bowler, you have 6-7 bowlers and you don't need an extra batter if teams are batting well upfront. You hardly see a no.7 or 8 coming in to bat," he added.
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