Delhi: Impact Player was brought as a new beginning to spice up the cricket in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but now it seems that Impact Player has done whatever it could and now the time has come to say bye to it. BCCI was saying till now that after IPL 2027, it will talk about the future journey with Impact Player, but considering the increasing pressure and its impact on cricket, now it has made up its mind to take a decision on this even before IPL 2027. BCCC sought opinion regarding this from IPL franchises who could give it till 31st August and now BCCI has to take a decision.

Even then the indications are that the expiry date of the impact player has arrived and IPL 2027 will be played without the playing condition of the impact player. During IPL 2025 and 2026, the number of people who believe that the impact of impact players on cricket is wrong has increased a lot. The increase in the team's score of 200 and the concern about its effect on the bowlers was not hidden from anyone. No one was able to tell what score was guaranteed to win the match. The captains of the teams have been criticizing the impact player before the last two seasons because the most important thing is that this has spoiled the structure of the team and the all-rounder was not understanding what his role is?

See the winning percentage of each team in IPL since the implementation of the Impact Player rule: 60.00% – Royal Challengers Bangalore, 57.38% – Gujarat Titans, 52.83% – Kolkata Knight Riders, 49.15% – Rajasthan Royals, 49.12% – Punjab Kings, 48.27% – Sunrisers Hyderabad, 47.36% – Chennai Super Kings, 47.27% – Delhi Capitals, 44.64% – Lucknow Super Giants, 43.33% – Mumbai Indians.

There is no doubt that there has been a change in IPL since the arrival of Impact Player. In 2023, it was brought in to add tactical flexibility, which made the batting line-up better and longer and gave more tactical possibilities in the hands of the captain, but the basic question is that IPL was already famous as a batting-friendly format, so what was the need to make it more helpful for the batsmen? Believe me, the way scores of 200+ were made during IPL 2026 and the batsmen started hitting 6's, the thrill of big scores and 6's was lost to some extent.

In IPL, it has been accepted since day one that the spectators and its fans enjoy watching 6 shots (that's why the distance to the boundary line was also reduced) and the same thing was happening, so what was the need to create more facilities for the batsmen? Bowlers can also be brought as impact players but generally teams use impact players in search of big scores. Suresh Raina has recently said that the Impact Player Rule has made life more difficult for bowlers.

There was a time when captains in IPL used to make the playing eleven very carefully and if there was a mistake in the structure, there was no way to escape. Even if a bowler had a bad day, you played with him and if the batting went bad, the specialist batsmen sitting in the dug-out were of no use. Then along comes the impact player and one substitution can change everything. The result was sensational and changed the IPL.

It is not that the option of bringing in an impact player was the only loss. It also created opportunities for young Indian players who would otherwise have spent the entire season on the bench. Commercially, there was a clear attraction: more batting, more wickets, more tactical changes and perhaps more entertainment. IPL is such a T20 match which is not just a match but also an entertainment. The Impact Player fits perfectly into that philosophy.

The biggest loss was that the all-rounders disappeared. Traditionally an all-rounder provides balance to a team's playing eleven and someone scoring 30 and bowling four overs was very valuable to the team. The impact player weakened this equation. If you can bring in a specialist batsman and later a specialist bowler, then why choose a player at No. 7 who is useful in both roles but is not 'top'? Ricky Ponting had warned as soon as the impact player came into the IPL that it would reduce the value of those players who bat a little and bowl a little.

Now the record is that Impact Player has fundamentally changed the tournament. Even then, even without impact players, the IPL has become so big that now the focus should be on the cricket played in it and let only 11 players, not 12, decide the result of the match.