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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.
Also read | IPL 2024: How can Dhoni play as Impact Player for CSK after stepping down as captain?
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
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
Batting: Runs – 207, Balls – 135, Average – 29.57, Strike Rate – 153.33.
Bowling: Wickets – 10, Economy – 7.52, Average – 20.3, Strike Rate – 16.2.
Potential options for IPL 2024
Suyash Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Chetan Sakariya, Manish Pandey
Mumbai Indians
Though MI didn’t strictly stick to a set of players for their swaps, some clarity in what their impact players were expected to do gave them 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
Batting: Runs – 130, Balls – 78, Average – 18.57, Strike Rate – 166.67.
Bowling: Wickets – 6, Economy – 8.31, Average – 26.3, Strike Rate – 19.0.
Potential options for IPL 2024
Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Kumar Kartikeya
Gujarat Titans
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
Batting: Runs – 215, Balls – 171, Average – 26.88, Strike Rate – 125.73.
Bowling: Wickets – 4, Economy – 9.46, Average – 52.5, Strike Rate – 33.5.
Potential options for IPL 2024
B. Sai Sudharsan, Vijay Shankar, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav
Punjab Kings
Punjab’s ‘Impact Player’ 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
Batting: Runs – 128, Balls – 96, Average – 21.33, Strike Rate – 133.33.
Bowling: Wickets – 7, Economy – 8.58, Average – 29.43, Strike Rate – 20.57.
Potential options for IPL 2024
Prabhsimran Singh, Nathan Ellis, Atharva Taide, Vidwath Kaverappa
Chennai Super Kings
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
Batting: Runs – 74, Balls – 61, Average – 18.5, Strike Rate – 121.31.
Bowling: Wickets – 12, Economy – 9.75, Average – 26.16, Strike Rate – 16.16.
Potential options for IPL 2024
Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Matheesha Pathirana, Mustafizur Rahman
Lucknow Super Giants
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
Batting: Runs: 103, Balls – 80, Average – 17.16, Strike Rate – 128.75.
Bowling: Wickets – 5, Economy – 8.58, Average – 32.6, Strike Rate – 22.8.
Potential options for IPL 2024
Devdutt Padikkal, Yash Thakur, Amit Mishra, K. Gowtham
Sunrisers Hyderabad
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
Batting: Runs – 114, Balls – 103, Average – 22.8, Strike Rate – 110.68.
Bowling: Wickets – 3, Economy – 8.81, Average – 54.33, Strike Rate – 37.66.
Potential option for IPL 2024
Mayank Agarwal, Marco Jansen, Umran Malik, Glenn Phillips
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’. 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
Batting: Runs – 64, Balls – 55, Average – 21.33, Strike Rate – 116.36.
Bowling: Wickets – 6, Economy – 10.22, Average – 31.5, Strike Rate – 18.83.
Potential options for IPL 2024
Mahipal Lomror, Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Himanshu Sharma
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. 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
Batting: Runs – 103, Balls – 76, Average – 25.75, Strike Rate – 135.53.
Bowling: Wickets – 2, Economy – 11.58, Average – 69.5, Strike Rate – 36.0.
Potential options for IPL 2024
Dhruv Jurel, Kuldeep Sen, Sandeep Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal
Delhi Capitals
Prithvi Shaw’s 18 runs in four innings dealt a fatal blow to Delhi Capitals’ ‘Impact Player’ 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.
DC’s ‘Impact’ record
Batting: Runs – 58, Balls – 70, Average – 7.25, Strike Rate – 82.86.
Bowling: Wickets – 5, Economy – 10.06, Average – 34.2, Strike Rate – 20.4.
Potential options for IPL 2024
Yash Dhull, Shai Hope, Khaleel Ahmed, Rishabh Pant
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