Impact Player Rule: Ricky Ponting agrees with Rohit Sharma, says it’s not ideal for coach and players

Backing India captain Rohit Sharma’s view on the Impact Player rule, Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting said it might be good for spectators but not ideal for coaches and players.

“I read some interesting answers from Rohit Sharma on this yesterday. The Impact Player rule is taking the all-rounders out of the game a little bit,” Ponting told reporters ahead of Delhi Capitals’ clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

“You know you can play your specialists. You can play a specialist batsman down to No.8, and then you can change him in the second innings. Rohit gave examples of Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar not bowling. I think for a coach and for the players, it’s probably not ideal, but I think what this game tries to do is entertain people,” the legend said.

“The T20 game is an entertainment package and I think it’s probably better to ask the spectators what they think about the Impact Player because if everyone is loving the fact that teams are making 220 to 250 in a lot of games, it should stay. But if the spectators aren’t liking it as much, there’s no reason why it couldn’t go back to just 11 vs 11,” he added.

The ‘Impact Player’ Rule, introduced in the 2023 season, allows teams to substitute a player — batsman or bowler – and get a player on from the bench.

But it has raised some concerns given that someone like Dube has been used by Chennai Super Kings only as a power-hitter. He hasn’t bowled his medium pacers despite being in contention for the T20 World Cup.

“I genuinely feel that it is going to hold back (development of India all-rounders),” Rohit had told Michael Vaughan and Adam Gilchrist’s on the YouTube show ‘Club Prairie Fire’.

“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. I can give you so many examples, guys like Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube are not getting to bowl. For us (the Indian team), it is not a good thing. I don’t know what you can do about it but I am not a fan of it, frankly speaking,” Rohit said.

“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.”

Injury updates

Delhi Capitals have three wins and four defeats in their seven games so far, but some of their players are returning from injuries. A couple of impressive wins against Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans have put them back in the mix.

Jaipur: Delhi Capitals batter David Warner plays a shot during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 T20 cricket match between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Delhi Capitals, at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (PTI Photo)

Ponting said injuries to the likes of Mitchell Marsh, David Warner, Kuldeep Yadav and Mukesh Kumar have hampered their campaign. Warner, who missed the last match due to a knuckle injury is 90 percent recovered as he was facing Ishant Sharma and Anrich Nortje at the nets without any problem. Meanwhile, wrist-spinner Kuldeep, who had missed a few games due to a groin injury, was taking a fitness test on the eve of the match.

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“David is getting closer to full fitness. We’d expect that there’d be a little bit more improvement from him today,” said Ponting.

“It hasn’t been the smoothest start for us this year. Mitchell Marsh has gone home, Harry Brook not even coming in the first place. Then Kuldeep and Mukesh missed a couple of games, but I’ve been happy with the two back-to-back wins.”

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