IPL 2023: Predicting Impact Players of every IPL team

With IPL 2023 just a few months away, fans are not only talking about the 'Impact Player' rule but also the return of the home-and-away format, which will undoubtedly change the dynamics of this edition of the cash-rich tournament.

You're probably wondering what this Impact Player rule is, how it will affect team strategies, and who teams might use as potential impact players to win the IPL 2023 trophy.

The Impact Player rule was first implemented in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last year. According to this rule, a team will have to nominate four substitutes at the toss in addition to playing XI. They can use any one of the four nominated players as their Impact Player.

The replacement player will take no further part in the game, not even as a substitute fielder.

Also, if a team has four overseas players in their playing XI, they can only bring in an Indian as the Impact Player. But if a team starts with only three or fewer foreigners in their XI, then they can bring in an overseas player as the Impact Player, but they will have had to nominate him as part of their four substitutes at the toss.

This concept will not only allow IPL teams to be flexible with their respective starting lineups, but also enable them to counter their opponent's player matchups effectively.

Imagine Rajasthan Royals using left-handed batsman Akash Vashist as an Impact Player to counter Wanindu Hasaranga and delay the entry of Sanju Samson. Hasaranga, who has previously dismissed the Royals' captain in 6 out of 7 outings, struggles big time against the southpaws.

So, tactically, teams will not only have to be smart about their starting XI on different pitches, but they will also have to look to outsmart their opponent's use of matchups in terms of the use of their impact player.

The Impact Player concept in the IPL may also be a much-needed second wind for some seasoned players in the twilight of their careers.

Players like Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla and Ishant Sharma, all of whom were bought at their respective base prices of Rs 50 lakhs, might be primarily used as impact players in their respective teams in IPL 2023.

Here, we take a look at which players are most likely to feature as their respective franchise's Impact Player.

# Gujarat Titans

Defending champions Gujarat Titans were the most stable side in the IPL last season, using the fewest players in their campaign.

They assembled one of the strongest and most balanced bowling units of the tournament. They covered all the bases in their bowling line-up, be it any phase of the game; and were able to strangle the opposition with their bowling more often than not. Their death overs economy (9.6) was the best in the tournament by a mile.

They were ably supported by ferocious finishers in Hardik Pandya, David Miller, and Rahul Tewatiya, who won them matches in some improbable situations.

The Gujarat-based franchise bought the ever-reliable Kane Williamson to bolster their top order, although concerns regarding his fitness and strike rate remain.

Their starting XI might look like this:

Shubhman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha, Kane Williamson, Matthew Wade, Abhinav Manohar, Hardik Pandya, David Miller, Rahul Tewatiya, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Mohammad Shami, Alzarri Joseph

Impact Players:

Shivam Mavi, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Jayant Yadav

On pitches like Wankhede, where in the initial overs the pacers get to swing and seam the ball, Gujarat Titans will be tempted to use either Mavi, Dayal or Sangwan according to the matchups as an impact player.

Jayant could come in handy on slow pitches, especially in the Powerplay, where he could chip in some economical overs.

#Lucknow Super Giants

The Lucknow Super Gaints are one of the few sides that possess a plethora of all-rounders. They have one of the best opening pairs of all the teams in the IPL in KL Rahul and Quinton De Kock.

Despite missing the services of Mark Wood last season, they had a balanced bowling attack.

They lacked a left-handed batsman in their middle order last season, for which they bought Nicholas Pooran in the recently concluded IPL auction.

Their starting XI might look like this:

KL Rahul, Quinton De Kock, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Marcus Stoinis, Prerak Mankad, Krunal Pandya, Aavesh Khan, Mark Wood, Mohsin Khan, and Ravi Bishnoi

Impact Players:

Ayush Badoni, Amit Mishra, Jaydev Unadkat, and Krishnappa Gowtham

Lucknow may use Amit Mishra as Impact Player on slow pitches. Pic: Getty Images

We might see Ayush Badoni and Amit Mishra being utilized as impact players more often than not depending on whether they are batting first or second. Badoni has shown some glimpses of his power hitting and finishing abilities, and Lucknow management will use him mostly while chasing.

Unadkat and Gowtham might come in handy on pitches like Chepauk, where there will be assistance for bowlers bowling slower ones, cutters and slow bouncers.

#Punjab Kings

Punjab Kings were one of the most dangerous but most inconsistent batting units in the IPL last season. They tried to play only one way last season: going hard from the word go. Their batting group exibhit some serious power hitting last season with an outstanding strike rate of 151.

There was no shortage of firepower last season, and there would not be one this time either.

They have strengthened their pace attack this time by acquiring Sam Curran, who will be their designated death bowler along with Arshdeep Singh. This way, they have freed up Rabada's overs upfront, making the bowling unit a lot better than last year.

Their starting XI might look like this:

Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Atharva Taide, Liam Livingston, Jitesh Sharma, Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Kagiso Rabada, and Arshdeep Singh

Impact Players:

Rishi Dhawan, Baltej Singh, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, and Vidwath Kaverappa

Kaverappa, a brilliant swing bowler who can be used to bowl his four overs on the trot, will be Punjab's top priority as an impact player.

All-rounders like Rishi Dhawan, Baltej, and Harpreet Bhatia could be used as pinch-hitters to up the ante, in addition to their bowling value to the team.

#Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad were among the most inconsistent teams in IPL 2022. If they were winning, then they looked like the best team in the tournament (although they were not), and when they started losing, there was no going back.

This time, they spent a huge chunk of money to buy Mayank Agarwal and Harry Brook. Their batting unit looks good on paper. In particular, they have the luxury of having three overseas batsmen who play spin very well: Harry Brook, Heinrich Klaasen, and Aiden Markram.

The Hyderabad-based franchise has not announced their captain yet, and it might be very interesting to see who they give this opportunity to.

Their starting XI might look like this:

Abhishek Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Glenn Phillips, Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Marco Jensen, Bhuvneswar Kumar, Aadil Rashid, and Umran Malik

Impact Players:

Kartik Tyagi, T. Natrajan, Sanvir Singh, and Vibrant Sharma

Sunrisers will mostly be tempted to use either Kartik or Natrajan in the death overs, mostly considering their last overs exploits from the previous season, but both pacers are injury-prone and will be rotated mostly the whole season for the impact player role.

Both Sanvir and Vibrant are terrific all-rounders and could be used to give impetus to the innings along with chipping in some overs. Vibrant can bowl googlies at decent pace, so he might be an interesting choice to go for as an impact player.

#Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals, last year's IPL runners-up, had some glaring issues with the balance of the team despite their remarkable performances. In order to play five genuine bowlers, they always found themselves a batsman short.

This time to solve the issue, they bought Jason Holder, who, along with Trent Boult, can really make a serious difference on pitches with some bounce. He can hit some lusty blows, making him a vital cog in the Royals.

Their starting XI might look like this:

Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Paddikal, Riyan Parag, Sanju Samson, Shimron Hetmeyer, Jason Holder, Ravi Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, and Yuzvendra Chahal

Impact Players:

Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, Murugan Ashwin, and Akash Vashist

Rajasthan might use Kuldeep as a potential death bowler using the impact player rule considering his sheer pace and lack of quality options in their lineup.

Navdeep and Murugan Ashwin will be the frontrunners if Rajasthan needs to control the middle overs or if the pitch demands a hit-the-deck bowler or a spinner, respectively.

Vashist, being a left-hander, will mostly come in handy to negate the matchups.

#Kolkata Knight Riders

KKR weren't at their mercurial best last season, with hard lengths and short balls at a high pace troubling their batsmen the entire season. They have unearthed Rinku Singh, a potential finisher who could be their X-factor this season.

They have traded Gurbaz, Lokie Ferguson, and Shardul Thakur, which will allow them a degree of freedom to be flexible with their combination.

Their starting XI might look like this:

Venkatesh Iyer, Rahmatullah Gurbaz, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, and Varun Chakravarthy

Impact Players:

Mandeep Singh, Vaibhav Arora, Anukul Roy, and Kulwant Khejroliya

Mandeep Singh has been in good power-hitting form in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy recently, and he also has experience closing out games as a finisher. So KKR might use him while chasing.

Vaibhav and Khejroliya will be good options for KKR on pitches that assist fast bowlers and have some movement in them.

Anukul is an all-round package. He can bowl 2-3 overs, give you some useful runs lower down the order, and is a brilliant fielder. He can be a useful asset if used as an impact player.

#Delhi Capitals

The Delhi Capitals narrowly missed out on a playoff berth in the IPL last season. They have had a balanced squad to go all the way and lift the IPL trophy.

This time, they traded Shardul Thakur to KKR and bought some exciting batsmen in Rossouw and Phil Salt. With the likes of David Warner and Powell already in the line-up, Capitals fans can surely expect some more fireworks in batting than the previous year.

However, with question marks over Rishabh Pant's availability following his unfortunate accident, DC might be forced to bench Mitchell Marsh. They also need to find an Indian batsman of Pant's caliber to fill that void.

Their starting XI might look like this:

David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Rilee Rossouw, Sarfaraz Khan, Rovman Powell, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Khaleel Ahmed, and Mukesh Kumar

Impact Players:

Chetan Sakariya, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Praveen Dubey, and Ishant Sharma

Sakariya is too good a player to not be selected in the playing XI of an IPL team. But if given a chance as an impact player, he can contribute to his team, especially in death overs.

Nagarkoti and Dubey are other players that Delhi management can consider using, especially the latter as he can bowl leg spins and score some invaluable runs quickly down the order.

Ishant Sharma will also find himself getting some games and will mostly be used to exploit the Initial movement in the Powerplay.

#Chennai Super Kings

Four-time IPL champions Chennai had a forgetful season last year when they managed to win only four matches and finished in ninth place in the table.

This year, with the return of the home-and-away format, Chennai fans will be hoping that the franchise will replicate their old performances at their home ground, Chepauk, and make it a fortress and bring back their old glory.

They spent 16.25 crore to buy Ben Stokes, who will not only add all-around value to the team but also his leadership skills. We might see MS Dhoni passing the captaincy baton to him.

Their starting XI might look like this:

Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ben Stokes, Ambati Rayudu, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dubey, MS Dhoni, Deepak Chahar, Mahesh Theekshana, and Mukesh Chaudhary

Impact Players:

Simarjit Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Prashant Solanki, and Rajvardhan Hangargekar

At Chepauk, choking batsmen with spin is nothing new, and despite having Moeen and Jadeja in the XI, if Dhoni substitutes Prashant Solanki as an impact player, don't be surprised.

Pacers like Simarjit and Deshpande are most likely to be substituted if any of the bowlers go for runs. Hangargekar will mostly be used as a pinch hitter who will have zero value for his wicket and smack some lusty blows when required.

#Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians fans will want to forget about last season, where they had the wooden spoon. But they have found some excellent talents in Dewald Brevis and Tilak Verma.

This time, they bid very hard for Cameron Green in the IPL auction and bagged him for a 17.50 crore. With Jofra Archer returning and him bowling in tandem with Jasprit Bumrah, MI's bowlers have enough arsenal to rattle any batting unit.

Their starting XI might look like this:

Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Cameron Green, Jofra Archer, Hrithik Shokeen, Kumar Kartikeya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Jason Behrendorff

Impact Players:

Piyush Chawla, Arjun Tendulkar, Arshad Khan, and Vishnu Vinod

Bringing Piyush Chawla back into the lineup in the auction indicated only one thing: MI wanted him to use his four-overs leg spin as an impact player, which might not have been possible otherwise.

Arjun and Arshad might prove handy in the conditions assisting fast bowlers or batting line-ups prone to left-arm bowlers.

Vishnu Vinod, a hard-hitting batsman, can be substituted in crunch chases where teams need to lengthen their batting.

#Royal Challengers Bangalore

RCB have had another season so close yet so far. They did manage to reach Qualifier 2, where they eventually lost to the Rajasthan Royals.

They didn't release many players and had the bare minimum to do so at the auction table—buying back-up players.

Their starting XI might look like this:

Faf Du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazelwood, Mohammad Siraj

Impact Players:

Suyash Prabhudesai, Avinash Singh, Akash Deep, and Manoj Bhandage

Suyash Prabhudesai had already shown some glimpses of his brute-force hitting prowess last season and could be slotted in to tonk some gigantic sixes as an impact player.

Both Akash and Avinash have the pace to unsettle the batsmen, and RCB management will try them out as middle-order enforcers.

Bhandage possesses immense all-round ability, but his inexperience might hinder his chances. If he can gain the management's trust, then we will surely witness him being utilized as an impact player more often than not.