Ravichandran Ashwin explains why he bats for impact player rule
By Sreejith CR | First Published Aug 29, 2024, 3:08 PM ISTIndia cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin feels the Impact Player gives a bit more options to the coaching staff, in terms of strategy. Moreover, the 37-year-old also stated the example of Dhruv Jurel, who made his IPL debut as an impact sub and is now India's number one wicket keeper in Tests.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bats for the Impact Player rule that is prevalent in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Impact Player rule was introduced in the IPL 2023 and last year it was a hot topic of debate because of the number of monstrous scores put on board by the batting sides. Some current and former players, including the likes of Rohit Sharma and Kris Srikkanth have stated that the rule dampened the development of all-rounders.
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Ashwin said on former India captain Srikkanth's YouTube show Cheeky Cheeka, "Why I think the Impact Player rule is not so bad is because it gives a little more value for strategy. The other side of that argument is it doesn't encourage all-rounders. But no one is stopping them."
"In this generation, they don't do it [batters bowling and vice-versa]. It's not like they're discouraged because of the Impact Player rule. Look at Venkatesh Iyer, he's currently rocking for Lancashire. There's an opportunity for innovation, and it makes the game fairer," The right-arm off-spinner added.
The Rajasthan Royals player also emphasized the fact that it helped his franchise team to bring out talents like Dhruv Jurel. The India wicket-keeper batsman came to the lime light during the 2023 IPL, when he came on as an impact sub against Punjab Kings in Guwahati and scored an impressive 32* off 15 balls.
From then on the right-handed batsman has never looked back, going on to make his international debut against England in the home Test series in February 2024. The 23-year-old scored 190 runs in the three Tests, including a highest score of 90.
“Most importantly, Dhruv Jurel… If not for the Impact Player rule, he may have never gotten the chance,” The Tamil Nadu cricketer pointed out. “So the emergence of a lot of players has happened. I'm not saying that's the only way for players to emerge, but it's not so bad,” Ashwin highlighted.
In terms of strategy and tactics, Ashwin feels the Impact Player rule give the coaching staff a bit more options play with. He validated his point by citing the example of the Rajasthan Royals' knockout stage match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, which RR lost by 36 runs.
"Sunrisers [Hyderabad] brought in Shahbaz Ahmed as an Impact Player [vs Rajasthan Royals, after hitting 175 for 9 batting first]; he went on to become a match-winner [with 3 for 23]. When dew has the potential to make games one-sided, teams bowling second get an extra option as a counter," Ashwin said.
"If you're batting second, you can tactically make a substitution by offloading the extra bowler for a batter. Games are tighter an extra player is getting to play. Barring Kolkata or Mumbai, where scores skyrocketed, they haven't been a drastic change elsewhere. Like at Punjab Kings' home venue [Mullanpur], they were all 160-170 games," he added.
Also read: Ravichandran Ashwin bewildered by Pakistan's shocking 10 wicket home defeat against Bangladesh
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