IPL 2024: Franchises divided over 'Impact Player' rule

The IPL Governing Council which was convened here on Saturday decided to continue with the hotly-debated Impact Player rule for the IPL 2025 season.

The Impact Sub was introduced during the IPL 2023 and since then the rule has vertically divided the opinion.

Even in the meeting the BCCI had with the team owners earlier this July, some franchises like Delhi Capitals were not entirely in favour of retaining the Impact Player rule, primarily because it reduced the importance of the all-rounders.

“We did not really find the need to take away the Impact Player rule because it adds a new dimension to the game and gives team something to think. It's also quite exciting for the fans as well,” a source informed PTI after the GC meeting.

In fact, the nine highest totals in the IPL were made since the introduction of the Impact Player rule and the team often effortlessly crossed 220s and even 250s in the IPL 2024.

“We had a chat with the franchise owners recently. The impact player rule has its pros and cons. The negative is that it makes the allrounder's role redundant. The positive is that it creates a spot for an Indian player to showcase his talent," BCCI secretary Jay Shah had said recently.

The Impact Player rule allows a team to replace a player from the starting eleven and bring in a specialist batsman or bowler as per the match situation.

The rule could also mean that CSK's 'Forever Captain in Spirit' Mahendra Singh Dhoni can play one more season of IPL with Shivam Dube playing purely as a slogger.