"Genuinely feel it is going to hold back the development of all-rounders" - Rohit Sharma admits not being a fan of the Impact Player Rule in the IPL

Mumbai Indians (MI) opener and former skipper Rohit Sharma admitted to not being a fan of the Impact Player Rule that has been instituted since the 2023 IPL season.

The rule provides the team with the option of bringing in a 12th player from a list of five players named at the toss other than those in the Playing XI to replace one of the players at any point in the game. While the 10 teams have utilized it to good effect when in trouble, it has reduced the impact of all-rounders.

Speaking on the Club Prairie Fire Podcast, Rohit specifically named Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube as two who have suffered due to the Impact Player Rule.

"I genuinely feel it is going to hold back the development of all-rounders because eventually cricket is played by 11 players, not 12. So I am not a big fan of the Impact player rule because you are taking out so much from the game just to make it a little more entertaining for the people around. But just the cricketing aspect of it, I feel guys like Washington Sundar, and Shivam Dube are not getting to bowl, which is not a good thing for us (India). Not sure what you can do about it, but I am not a fan of it," said Rohit.

He added:

"It is entertaining though as there are 12 players to select from and whoever that Impact player is, can see how the game is going and change it on what you need, and how the pitch is behaving. If you bat well and don’t lose too many wickets, can add a bowler which gives an option of having 6-7 bowlers. You don’t need that extra batter because a lot of the teams upfront are batting well and you hardly see No.7 or 8 coming to bat."

Dube bowled sparingly in each of the four seasons from 2019 to 2022 but hasn't been used for a single over since last year once the Impact Player rule came into existence.

Several other experts have also been against the rule, pointing to how it helps teams with poor auction strategy and squad makeup.

---

"It's not bad bowling, it's just batters are coming out with a free mindset" - Rohit Sharma on the high-scoring IPL 2024

Rohit Sharma defended the bowlers amid the massive scores being posted in the 2024 IPL season and felt it has to do more with the batters at the top playing with a free mindset.

The top three team totals in IPL history have come inside the first half of the ongoing season, with SRH posting first-inning scores of 287 and 277 and KKR amassing 272, respectively.

"It's not bad bowling. It's just batters are coming out with a free mindset and smacking it all over the park. They are not worried about getting out and that’s how T20 cricket should be played these days. You’ve got 7-8 batters now and most of the time you realize that your No. 6 and 7 bat only 5-7 balls so the top four need to just go out there and play freely," said Rohit.

"Coming to assessing the conditions and all that, if you are in trouble, you are in trouble anyway, so might as well take those chances upfront and put the bowler under pressure straight away," he added.

The recent SRH-RCB clash saw the two teams combine for the highest match aggregate in T20Is with 549 runs. It overtook the 523 runs aggregate in the SRH-MI game only a few days prior.

Apart from the batters having a go right away, the Impact Player Rule has also added depth to batting lineups, allowing for a more attacking style of play with the willow.