Impact Substitutions: The good, the bad, and the ugly

Ever since its introduction in the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the impact substitution rule has been the talk of the town.

While it was generally seen with excitement, many people wondered what the 'impact' of the impact substitution on the dynamic of the game would be. 

After a year in place, the effects of the impact sub rule are much clearer, and opinions are circulating more than ever.

It is about time that people start discussing what could potentially be the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of this rule.

The Good

  The new rule has done a great job in giving more players opportunities. With the impact sub, teams can play 12 players throughout the game. This has helped players lengthen their careers and provide chances for newer faces. During the Rajasthan versus Lucknow match, 41-year-old leg spinner Amit Mishra was brought on as an impact sub. In usual circumstances, the presence of the much younger leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi would be considered enough. However, a tricky track at the Ekana Cricket Stadium meant that Lucknow could do with two leg spinners, and Mishra was out there taking the wicket of Riyan Parag in just his first over. Without the rule, Amit Mishra would be nowhere near the scene, but there he was, bamboozling batters with his guile even at 41.

   The lesser-known youngsters too have been highly benefitted from the rule, especially the likes of Delhi's Abhishek Porel, Punjab's Prabhsimran Singh, and Gujarat's Sai Sudharshan. The impact sub rule allows teams to find greater balance in both innings as they can play seven batters and five bowlers in the same game. With a seemingly fragile bowling lineup of Delhi, playing an extra pacer like Khaleel Ahmed is of utmost importance, but he does very little as a batter. In an 11-player match, Delhi would have to fight with the tradeoff between picking Khaleel but risk having poor batting enforcements, or to pick an extra batter such as Porel while leaving the pacer out of the lineup. 

  Given that someone like a Porel is low on experience, Delhi would be inclined to pick Khaleel. But with the rule in place, both Khaleel and Porel can play a part in the game, without risking one aspect for the other. Both the players are young aspiring cricketers looking to grow with experience, and hence the impact sub comes in as a piece of treasure.

  New special roles have emerged with the existence of the impact sub, notably the role of Shivam Dube as a 'spin-enforcer' in the CSK line up. Dube has averaged 66.4 while striking at 173.6 against all forms of spin bowling, while the average remains high at 50.1 against pace, the strike rate dramatically falls to 118.6. 

Given the duality of Dube against the two varieties, CSK have found a genius way to use Dube. Bringing him on in the middle overs as an impact sub means that what is usually a slow passage of play with spin choking opposition batters is suddenly a slogfest. This forces the opposition into a dilemma of using spinners that Dube obliterates for a living, or to use up pacers in the middle overs, leaving lesser resources towards the back end of the inning. Who would perhaps be a burden on a batting lineup for his visible struggles against pace is now a major cause of worry to the other teams with all credit to the new rule. 

 The Bad

  Way too many high scoring games. The reinforcements towards the back end of the innings push the top-order batters to go hard during the initial overs. The average powerplay score and run rate has increased significantly, as Hyderabad average 73 runs each powerplay while striking at 11.7 runs per over. Kolkata comes a close second, averaging 67 in the first six at a rate of 11.2 runs per over. Compared to last year, the highest run rates were from Rajasthan and Chennai, at only 9.4 and 9.35, respectively. 

  In the list of highest IPL scores throughout all seasons, the record belonged to Bengaluru for much of the last 11 years with their 263/5. This year, that score finds itself at the fifth place in the list, being overtaken by Hyderabad thrice already and once by Kolkata. 

  Throughout all seasons of the IPL, the 2023 edition held the record of 21 200 plus scores in one season. The second place was held by the 2022 edition with 18 such scores, followed by the 2018 season with 15 only. This year in the 44 games played so far, the number has already reached 25. The number would be even higher if teams had not finished at 199 five times. 

 While the six hitting barrages have been enjoyable to watch, they are slowly losing their glamour. The very thing that makes sixes and high scores so enjoyable is the fact that they are rare occurrences. To many people, the 263 that Bengaluru scored in 2013 will be more iconic to the 288 by Hyderabad, simply because the 263 was unlike anything else in its time. 

 Delhi Capital's coach Ricky Ponting had questioned how enjoyable such bat versus bat contests are, suggesting that the rule has been giving him nightmares and it should only remain if the public likes such matches. Rajasthan's Rovman Powell said, "I think it is getting a bit boring now. It is getting boring in the sense there is not a lot of challenge between bat and ball, it is predominantly one-sided in favor of batters."

  Bowlers have been on the receiving end of such brutality and have not held back their opinions about the issue either. R Ashwin had tweeted "Save the bowlers" after 523 runs were scored during the game between Kolkata and Punjab at the Eden Gardens. ahead of Bengaluru's game against Kolkata Knight Riders, Mohammed Siraj had pleaded with the broadcasters to scrap the Impact Player rule. He said, "Please remove this Impact Sub thing, the wickets are already flat and there's nothing for the bowlers in it. Previously, it used to be slow at times, but the batters now come out swinging at absolutely everything."

The Ugly

 For any domestic league taking place, one key expectation would be that it aids in developing younger talents and helping the national side get better. Even if it does not explicitly help the national team, it should not be detrimental in any given case. Ever since their 2013 Champion's Trophy win, India have failed to win a major ICC tournament for the last 11 years. When asked about why this may be the case, veteran Michael Vaughan said that one of the reasons why the older Indian teams were so much more successful were the number of all-rounders they had. Of the top 5 Indian batters who played in the 2023 world cup, none of them were batters who could be viable bowling options. 

   From Sehwag and Sachin to Yuvraj and Raina, much of India's top order in the world cup winning eleven could bowl as well. The dependence on specialized bowlers has often hurt India, who seemingly lack bowling might when one of the five specialists fail, as seen in the 2023 world cup final. For a nation with such a need for all-rounders, one would think that the premier domestic league would be the place where they would find one. But the impact sub rule has somewhat constrained the rise of any emerging all-rounders in the country.

  Players like Washington Sundar and Vijay Shankar who were once considered emerging talents in the all-rounders category, have hardly been allowed to display their all-round prowess. The fact that Hyderabad can stack their lineup with batters and then bring one of their bowlers in has led to no game time for Sundar. Having played only two matches this season so far, it is hard to fit in someone like Sundar who is not specialized in either of the roles but does both good enough to make a living out of it. For Gujarat, Vijay Shankar has not bowled a single over this season, simply because they sub in Mohit Sharma to fill in the bowling role. 

 "I am not a big fan of the Impact sub rule. It is going to hold all-rounders back, eventually cricket is played by 11 players not 12 players. You are taking out so much from game to make it entertaining for people around. If you look just from the cricketing aspect of it I feel guys like Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar aren't getting to bowl, which for us is not a good thing," Rohit had said on 'Club Prairie Fire' podcast. 

Former world cup winner Zaheer Khan too said "I completely agree it's debatable, little concern for sure. But we need to find a way on how to deal with it. In the Impact Player rule you will find half all-rounders but not a complete one."  

 All in all, the impact rule has been given enough time to showcase its merits. While opinions differ, it is certainly a rule that will need a certain degree of reform to reduce the criticism it has received.