South Africa and Gujarat Titans batter David Miller on Saturday said he was still adapting to the new Impact Player rule at IPL 2023 but believes it favours specialists as the league stands at the moment.
According to this new rule, teams can now name up to five substitutes, and one can be subbed on during the game. The player taken off can play no further part, and the replacement must be Indian unless the team has not used its full overseas complement of four.
“I mean, ultimately, you’ve got your all-rounders’ position. But I think the fact that you’ve got the choice to have the extra batter or the extra bowler gives extra strength to the team,” Miller said ahead of the Titans’ IPL match against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
“I’ve just come in the last couple of days, and I’m still trying to kind of get the concept of it, but it seems like it takes away the impact of all-rounders, takes their role away.
“That’s my understanding, where you can take six or seven frontline betters or six frontline bowlers. So, yeah, I mean, we’ll see how it goes as IPL goes on,” Miller added.
But the rule has already divided opinions. For instance, Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting feels the Impact Player rule could mean the end of the road for “bits and pieces all-rounders”.
“It almost negates the role of all-rounders in the game now. So, unless they’re world-class and they’re getting picked either as a batsman or as a bowler, not sort of a bits-and-pieces guy, then I don’t think you’ll see many, many teams this year use the guy that might bat at seven and maybe bowling over or two. Because you don’t need those guys anymore,” Ponting had said at an event before the start of the season.
Getting over the line: David Miller and Sai Sudharsan took the Titans over the line with a fifty partnership. Sudharsan finished unbeaten on 62.
Fightback: Vijay Shankar, who came in as Gujarat’s Impact Player, added 50 with State teammate Sai Sudharsan for the fourth wicket. While Sudharsan drove well, Shankar relied on his drives down the ground. Both rotated strike brilliantly but also cashed in on the loose deliveries. Shankar walked out with GT 3 down for 54 and helped resurrect the chase.
I believe I can fly: Khaleel Ahmed had his first big ‘impact’ on the match when he had the Titans skipper Hardik Pandya caught behind. Khaleel landed the ball on a length and got it to nip into Hardik, who could only edge it back to the keeper. It was also Abishek Porel's first catch in IPL cricket.
Whattay shot: Sometimes, one shot is all it takes to tell you just how much ability a player possesses. Sai Sudharsan’s audacious scoop off Anrich Nortje was one such shot. Nortje went full at 144.2 kph on off stump, and Sudharsan walked across to scoop it over fine leg for a maximum.
Kaboom: Anrich Nortje, playing his first IPL match this season, clean bowled Wriddhiman Saha with a 143 kph inswinger. In his second over, Nortje cranked up the pace even more, rattling Shubman Gill’s stumps with an inswinger at 148.8 kph. Nortje, along with his other South African teammates Kagiso Rabada, David Miller and Aiden Markram joined their respective IPL teams on April 3, after the Netherlands ODIs.
Wriddhi, the Man: Khaleel Ahmed, the Impact Sub, replaced Sarfaraz Khan, and straightaway bore the brunt of GT opener Wriddhiman Saha’s willow. Saha hit two fours and a six in the very first over to get the Titans run chase off to a flying start.
Silver lining: Axar Patel’s innings was in some ways the solitary crumb of comfort in an otherwise disappointing batting display from the Capitals. Axar struck 36 off 22 but seldom had help from the other end.
Better late than never: Rashid Khan was finally introduced in the 13th over - only once before tonight had he bowled in a T20 innings after the 10th over. But Rashid had an immediate impact when he cleaned up Abishek Porel, who was guilty of playing across the line.
All smiles: India and Delhi Capitals wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant was in attendance at the Arun Jaitley Stadum for his team’s IPL match against the Gujarat Titans. Pant is currently unavailable for IPL and international duties as he is recovering from injuries sustained in a serious car crash in December.
Breathing fire: Alzarri Joseph was fast, brutal and unpleasant to face in his first spell. He exploited the seam movement and uneven bounce to snaffle two consecutive wickets in his second over. David Warner was the first to go, chopping Joseph on before Rilee Rossouw was undone by a rip snorter. The ball spat off just short of a length, and brushed the shoulder of Rossouw’s bat before ballooning towards Rahul Tewatia, who completed a fine diving catch at point. Luckily, for DC, debutant Abishek Porel survived the hat-trick ball, but Joseph had already done some serious damage in the space of just six balls.
PowerPlay specialist: Mohammad Shami had the joint-most wickets in the PowerPlay in IPL 2022, and his new-ball spell tonight reaffirmed the value of deck-hitting line and length early in a T20 match. Here, Shami is celebrating after Mitchell Marsh chops on off a length ball shaping away from him. Shami had figures of 3-0-29-2 in the PowerPlay.
Drawing first blood: Mohammad Shami did not have to wait long for his first wicket. After a wonderful display of seam and swing bowling, Shami eventually had Prithvi Shaw caught on the pull. DC was 29 for 1 in 2.4 overs.
Peach of a delivery: Gujarat Titans pace spearhead Mohammed Shami beat David Warner with an away going delivery in his first over. There was some sound as the ball passed Delhi Capitals skipper Warner’s bat, which prompted a loud appeal for caught behind. It was given not out, and GT captain Hardik Pandya decided against going upstairs.
COMMents
Interestingly, most teams have tapped into their Indian reserves for Impact Player options. Dhruv Jurel of the Rajasthan Royals smacked an unbeaten 15-ball 32 on his IPL debut. Gujarat Titans’ Sai Sudharsan stepped up to fill the gap left in the top order by Kane Williamson, who has been ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury. It is worth noting that the preference for Indians also comes from the provision that a team has to field only three overseas players in their starting XI to be able to name an overseas player as the impact sub.
The teams have also tried to be flexible in their use of the rule. The Sunrisers Hyderabad, on Friday, played with three overseas players, which meant it could utilise an overseas Impact Player.
Time will tell how the experiment with the Impact Player changes things, but the early indications are that it is clearly new innovation to watch out for in this IPL.
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