IPL 2024: Spectator feedback should be key in deciding future of Impact Player rule, says Ponting

Since IPL 2023, the introduction of an Impact Player at any stage of the game has effectively made it a 12-player-a-team game, with eight batters and five bowlers being played in virtually every game.

FILE PHOTO: Ricky Ponting, head coach of Delhi Capitals during the practice session on the eve of the IPL match against Lucknow Super Giants at Ekana stadium, in Lucknow. | Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA/ The Hindu

Agreeing with India captain Rohit Sharma’s assessment of the Impact Player being detrimental to allrounders in the Indian Premier League, Australia’s World Cup-winning captain Ricky Ponting stressed that the onus was on the spectator feedback to decide the fate of the rule.

“For a coach and the players, it’s probably not ideal, but a lot of what this game tries to do is entertain people. The T20 game is an entertainment package and it’s probably better asking the spectator what they think about the impact player,” Ponting, the Delhi Capitals head coach, said on Friday ahead of its IPL tie against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Since IPL 2023, the introduction of an Impact Player at any stage of the game has effectively made it a 12-players-a-team game, with eight batters and five bowlers being played in virtually every game. It has also resulted in average team total going up considerably.

“If everyone is loving the fact that teams are making 220 up to 250 in a lot of the games, and the spectators like seeing it, then it should stay. But if the spectators aren’t liking it as much, then there’s no reason why I couldn’t go back to just 11 versus 11,” Ponting said.