The introduction of the Impact Player rule last year in the Indian Premier League (IPL) was greeted with intrigue and brought with it the promise of innovation. With teams allowed to swap one player for another, depending on the game situation, at any point in the match, it was believed the Impact Player provision would provide the tactical edge to the team that used it cleverly.
However, a few days ahead of the tournament, it was announced that captains could name the playing eleven after the toss, which effectively neutralised any gains the team that used it more discerningly stood to gain. Instead, it became a direct player swap, mostly at the mid-innings break, with the team batting first roping in a bowler for the second innings and vice versa. The term ‘playing XI’ seemed a misnomer at this point, with the game well and truly contested with 12 players on each side.
Out of the 139 times that the Impact Player rule was invoked across 74 matches in the 2023 season, only on 12 occasions did teams seemingly attempt to use the provision tactically by either swapping a batter for a batter and a bowler for a bowler during its batting and bowling innings, respectively, or introduce a player at a time where he could contribute with both bat and ball.
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However, despite the captains being allowed to announce the team after the flip of the coin and activate its ‘Impact Player’ accordingly, ‘Impact Players’ had little influence quantitatively over the course of the tournament. With the bat, they averaged a dismal 20.62, and neither could they provide much impetus at the back end of the innings, striking as they were at just 129.3 runs per 100 balls. Considering that these are largely the numbers of specialist batters, since it only made sense to call upon them during the batting innings, they pale significantly against the overall average of 26.72 and strike rate of 141.71 in the 2023 season.
Though the ‘Impact’ bowlers fared slightly better, picking 60 wickets at an economy rate of 9.11 and a strike rate of 21.03, the corresponding figures for the whole tournament were considerably better (economy rate: 8.84; strike rate 19.9).
The teams that fared comparatively better with regards to the performance of their ‘Impact Players’ were those that were consistent with their picks and assigned them a role they were familiar with.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders’ Suyash Sharma celebrates with Venkatesh Iyer during IPL 2023. | Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K/ The Hindu
Despite a campaign that blew hot and cold, KKR seemed to have cracked the Impact Player code better than any other side. Venkatesh Iyer and Suyash Sharma were most often the duo to be swapped and delivered the goods on most occasions. While Venkatesh played a couple of breezy knocks at No. 3 and No. 4, the leg-spinner contributed seven wickets in this role. Knight Riders also tried to use Anukul Roy’s all-round skills on two occasions, with the move paying off once.
KKR’s ‘Impact’ record
Potential options for IPL 2024
Mumbai Indians
FILE PHOTO: Suryakumar Yadav’s 31-ball 66 at No. 4 came in a successful 215-run chase against Punjab Kings. | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI/ The Hindu
Though MI didn’t strictly stick to a set of players for its swaps, some clarity in what its impact players were expected to do gave it success to a certain degree. Suryakumar Yadav’s 31-ball 66 at No. 4 came in a successful 215-run chase against Punjab Kings, while Nehal Wadhera and Tim David played two critical cameos at the death lower down the order. MI used six different bowlers as ‘Impact Players’ on six different occasions with Akash Madhwal and Riley Meredith being among the wickets.
MI’s ‘Impact’ record
Potential options for IPL 2024
Gujarat Titans
FILE PHOTO: Vijay Shankar chipped with a couple of brisk knocks for Gujarat Titans in the 2023 season. | Photo Credit: DEEPAK KR/ The Hindu
Shubman Gill played as ‘Impact Player’ in four matches last season and couldn’t get going on all four occasions, his best being a 35-ball 49. However, Vijay Shankar chipped with a couple of brisk knocks while Josh Little was consistently called upon to deliver with the ball. Gujarat’s ‘Impact’ bowlers could only pick four wickets while going at almost 9.5 runs an over. Though the batters scored runs at a consistent average of 26.88, the management would want them to score at a faster clip.
GT’s ‘Impact’ record
Potential options for IPL 2024
Punjab Kings
FILE PHOTO: Punjab’s ‘Impact Player’ strategy revolved around opener Prabhsimran Singh and fast-bowler Nathan Ellis. | Photo Credit: MOORTHY RV/ The Hindu
Punjab’s strategy revolved around opener Prabhsimran Singh and fast-bowler Nathan Ellis, who bowled his full quota of four overs on all the five occasions that he played in this capacity. Prabhsimran struck a couple of quickfire forties up top and Kings’ consistency in their selection for the job paid off to an extent.
PBKS’ ‘Impact’ record
Potential options for IPL 2024
Chennai Super Kings
FILE PHOTO: Chennai Super Kings Shivam Dube in action. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI/ The Hindu
While the move to use Ambati Rayudu as an effective middle-order enforcer didn’t pay dividends (42 runs in five innings), Super Kings’ ‘Impact’ bowlers were the most effective, picking 12 wickets at 9.75 runs an over. CSK earmarked Matheesha Pathirana for the job at the death in the latter half of the tournament, and his swap with Shivam Dube eventually worked wonders for the 2023 champion.
CSK’s ‘Impact’ record
Potential options for IPL 2024
Lucknow Super Giants
Lucknow Super Giants’ Ayush Badoni was primarily assigned the role of finisher in the capacity of an impact player. | Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K/ The Hindu
Ayush Badoni was primarily assigned the role of finisher in the capacity of an ‘Impact Player’, but he could only strike at 121.87, leaving Super Giants feeling they could have done more with the resources at their disposal. With a bevy of power-hitters in its squad, LSG could look to alter its position with regards to the Impact Player provision.
LSG’s ‘Impact’ record
Potential options for IPL 2024
Sunrisers Hyderabad
FILE PHOTO: Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Rahul Tripathi in action. | Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL/ The Hindu
Mirroring its harrowing 2023 campaign was SRH’s muddled ‘Impact Player’ strategy. It began with Abdul Samad taking on the mantle at No. 7, then moved to Rahul Tripathi at No. 3 before ending with Anmolpreet Singh in the opener’s slot. Barring a couple of thirties between them, none of the three batters could find their groove. All-rounders Vivrant Sharma and Washington Sundar were also underutilised as ‘Impact Players’ on a couple of occasions.
SRH’s ‘Impact’ record
Potential option for IPL 2024
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Anuj Rawat failed to deliver as a No. 8 finisher, scoring 16 runs in 27 balls in the two innings he batted as ‘Impact Player’. | Photo Credit: Sportzpics for IPL
Anuj Rawat failed to deliver as a No. 8 finisher, scoring 16 runs in 27 balls in the two innings he batted as ‘Impact Player’. With a top-heavy batting line-up and Dinesh Karthik’s hitting abilities on the wane, RCB would need to groom a bonafide late-overs batter.
RCB’s ‘Impact’ record
Potential options for IPL 2024
Rajasthan Royals
Barring the discovery of Dhruv Jurel’s ability to deliver under pressure in the death overs, little good came out of the Impact Player rule for Royals last year. | Photo Credit: SPORTZPICS for IPL
Barring the discovery of Dhruv Jurel’s ability to deliver under pressure in the death overs, little good came out of the Impact Player rule for Royals last year. On the bowling front, on three occasions RR called upon a specialist bowler as ‘Impact Player’ and ended up giving him just a solitary over in the match. Those three overs cost the team 44 runs cumulatively.
RR’s ‘Impact’ record
Potential options for IPL 2024
Delhi Capitals
Khaleel Ahmed and Mukesh Kumar made regular appearances as ‘Impact Players’ on the bowling front for Delhi Capitals. | Photo Credit: JOTHI RAMALINGAM B/ The Hindu
Prithvi Shaw’s 18 runs in four innings dealt a fatal blow to Delhi Capitals’ strategy. The team’s experiments in the middle-order with Sarfaraz Khan and Manish Pandey also backfired. Khaleel Ahmed and Mukesh Kumar made regular appearances as ‘Impact Players’ on the bowling front, though the latter was lacking in discipline.
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