Impact Player rule: How have the IPL teams used IP so far?

Trent Woodhill, the Australian coach known as the innovator, was the originator of what passes as the Impact Player rule these days at the IPL. An earlier version was called the X-factor that Trent introduced with his team in the BBL. It was scrapped late last year. “Although we were excited, the clubs did not embrace it as much as we would have liked and I believe much of it had to do with Australian cricket being conservative,” Woodhill had written in this newspaper.
How is Indian cricket dealing with it? Are they being conservative or experimental? Let’s sift through the evidence.
Lucknow Super Giants
Monday night was interesting. They got in Badoni as the Impact Player, replacing Avesh Khan, in the last over of CSK innings, and he saw Dhoni smash two epic sixes off Mark Wood as they finished on 217. Badoni walked in to bat with LSG needing 88 runs from 40 balls. Once Nicolas Pooran and KS Gowtham slugged a few sixes, the equation came down to 44 from 26 balls. Eminently gettable in T20 terms but this is where Badoni couldn’t turn it on. He is a good innovative batsman who uses lap shots and angles well, but with CSK largely bowling well outside off, his run tap was squeezed shut. He flailed around gamely, but couldn’t connect. And the match slipped out. With Quinton de Kock set to join the team soon, will LSG pick Badoni as their IP in the next games, especially if the chase is steep, or have someone like Gowtham?
Having said that, LSG have been more proactive than most with the Impact Player rule. In the first game, they subbed out Ayush Badoni after he finished batting, replacing him with K Gowtham. The only instance of a team not waiting for their batting to end before using it. Gowtham slammed a six, turned in a tidy spell (just 23 runs in his 4 overs) in the chase to help them win 50 runs.
Chennai Super Kings
CSK’s Tushar Deshpande celebrates after taking the wicket of Lucknow Super Giants Nicholas Pooran. (Twitter/ChennaiIPL)
Before the start of the first game, MS Dhoni had called IP rule a “luxury” for captains. the end of two games, he was left warning his IP player Tushar Deshpande that if no-balls and wides continue, a new captain will have to be found.
The choice was clear and simple: Deshpande replaced Ambati Rayudu after their batting innings (they batted first in both games). Deshpande conceded 51 runs in 3.2 overs in the first game, and slipped into a slew of no-balls and wides in the second where he leaked 45 from his 4 overs. But it can be expected that Dhoni will give Deshpande more chances as when he got it right, he was pretty decent. He picked up two wickets as well in the last game. It could have been a case of nerves, and CSK won’t abandon him yet. So, thus far, it’s been a straightforward replacement of a bowler for a batsman who can’t bowl.
Delhi Capitals
Aman Khan of Delhi Capitals bats during match between Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow, India, Saturday, April 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Surjeet Yadav)
They went in with the allrounder Aman Khan whose power hitting in the training camp had impressed the head coach Ricky Ponting. “He has been ultra-impressive in everything that he has done so far in our training camps and when we played our first practice game the other night he dominated that. I think he made 72 not out of about 38 balls and he is big, tall, strong and powerful,” Ponting had said before the tournament. Aman Khan had starred in the Mumbai T20 league as well in the past and Delhi traded Shardul Thakur with KKR to bring him in the squad.
Khan is also a pace bowler, and Delhi had subbed out Khaleel Ahmed (2 for 30) to bring him in as IP in the game against LSG. Aman had walked out with Delhi reeling at 112 for 6 in 15.3 overs in the chase of 194, but he fell for four runs. But with the backing of Ponting and Sourav Ganguly, who is also a fan, Aman Khan will get more chances as the IP.
Gujarat Titans
B. Sai Sudharsan of Gujarat Titans .
Hardik Pandya was frank in saying that he doesn’t fuss about IP rule and has left the bowling coach Ashish Nehra to handle it. Unfortunately for Nehra, he couldn’t do much in the first game as Kane Williamson hurt his knee and had to quit IPL. They got in Sai Sudarsan to bat instead of Williamson in the chase and he did pretty well, hitting 23 and forming a partnership with Shubman Gill in a successful chase.
Punjab Kings
Rishi Dhawan (Sportzpics/IPL)
They went the CSK way, replacing a batsman with a bowler, with Bhanuka Rajapaksa (32-ball 50) giving way to the allrounder Rishi Dhawan. But Dhawan bowled just one over, leaking 15 runs. It was an understandable choice as Dhawan had starred in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament, picking 13 wickets at little over 7 runs per over for the runners-up Himachal Pradesh. And with Dhawan, it also allows Punjab Kings to even use the IP rule even if they are batting first to use his batting skills. Time will tell how he shapes up the demands of IPL.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Venkatesh Iyer
KKR went with Venkatesh Iyer as their IP, replacing Varun Chakravarthy who bowled well for his 1 for 23 from four overs. Iyer added 70 runs with Andre Russel in the chase of 192, hitting 34 at a strike rate of 121.43, and taking them close to the target. KKR needed 54 from 28 at his exit, but rain came down and found KKR short 7 runs on DLS.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
RCB became the only team who didn’t use the IP as their openers Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli almost won the game against Mumbai Indians on their own. There was an opportunity in their bowling innings to use a IP as their left-arm pacer Reece Topley left the field after a fielding injury. But with enough bowling options, they possibly decided to use the IP in the chase. That never eventuated with Kohli-Faf fireworks.
Mumbai Indians
Jason Behrendorff. (IPL)
Interestingly, MI went with just three overseas players and used the fourth – Jason Behrendorff the pacer – as their Impact Player, subbing out Suryakumar Yadav. Considering Suryakumar is their vice-captain and reportedly to step in as captain if and when Rohit Sharma decides to rest, it was a curious choice. What if Rohit had got injured after the IP substitution was done? Behrendorff couldn’t impress Kohli-Faf, who plundered 37 runs from his three overs.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Abdul Samad. (SRH/Twitter)
Set a target of 204 Rajasthan Royals, Hyderabad’s IP Abdul Samad was always going to be struggling. And things were dire when his batting chance came – they were tottering at 48 for 5 and his 32 didn’t bring in any minor miracles but reduced the margin of defeat.
Rajasthan Royals
Navdeep Saini of Rajasthan Royals.
Theirs was more about giving Navdeep Saini a game and some match time rather than any tactically needed move. For such was the match situation. They had 203 on board and reduced Hyderabad to 63 for 6 when Saini got a bowl. He was erratic, slipping out a beamer, and off his lines and lengths. But if there was no IP rule, he might not have got a game and would have come in raw in another game with the game on line. But IP rule allowed Rajasthan the luxury to get some bowling miles under him in a real match situation.