Impact Player rule negates the role of all-rounders, bits and pieces players: Ricky Ponting

The introduction of an Impact Player to replace any one cricketer in the Playing XI during an Indian Premier League (IPL) game will reduce the role of all-rounders in the team, Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting said during a promotional event on Friday. For example, a team may use a special batsman or a special bowler depending on the match situation. A team which has finished bowling and is chasing a huge target has the option of replacing a frontline bowler with a special batsman in the second half of the game.
“You don’t need to pick all-rounders now because you can name a batting or a bowling-heavy team and just take one out and bring the other in. Unless they’re absolutely world-class and they’re getting picked either as a batsman or as a bowler, and not as a bits-and-pieces player then I don’t see many teams this year use the guy that might bat at seven and bowl an over or two,” Ponting said.
He also added, “The fact that we found out about the impact player rule post auction as well… you’ve got to work with what you’ve got. I think if we would’ve known about it before the auction, we might have looked at it in a slightly different way. It is what it is.”
According to the rules, an impact player can be picked from the five substitutes. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has increased the strength of the playing squad to 16 for this season’s IPL.
An Impact Player can be introduced “(i) before the start of the innings or (ii) after completion of an over or (iii) in case of a batter, at the fall of the wicket or the batter retiring at any time during the over. Furthermore, the bowling side can also bring in an Impact Player during the fall of a wicket, but he will not be permitted to bowl the remaining balls in the over if the wicket has fallen mid-over.”

“It’s actually quite confusing, to be honest,” Ponting admitted. “To just work through the whole range of different ways that we can use some of these players as far as the impact rule is concerned, we’ve got a bit of work to do.”The Impact Player rule was first used during the Big Bash League.