The 2023 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will see a brand new addition to the league with a new rule coming into place. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have confirmed that the ‘impact player’ rule will make its debut in the 2023 season of the league.
The move to introduce the rule in the world’s richest cricket league comes on the back of it being tried out for the first time in the 2022/23 season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy which took place in October/November. Delhi’s Hrtihik Shokeen had become the first player to be used as an impact player in the history of T20 cricket in India.
While making the announcement on their social media account, IPL explained the new addition saying ‘“From the TATA IPL 2023 season, a tactical concept will be introduced to add a new dimension to the IPL, wherein one substitute player per team will be able to take a more active part in an IPL match.”
The rule will allow any team to replace a player from the starting XI before the 14th over of the first innings. After his introduction, the player will be allowed to bat and bowl his full quota of overs. It is worth remembering a team can only use a total of 11 batters.
However, the player who is subbed off will not be allowed to take any further part in a game. If a game is reduced to less than 10 overs due to rain; teams will not be allowed an impact player either.
The impact player rule sees the IPL follow the Big Bash League‘s (BBL’s) footsteps. The Australian T20 league has a concept called the ‘X Factor’ rule where a team can substitute a player after the 10th over of the first innings. However, the rule is different from the ‘impact player’ as the player who is subbed off should not have batted or bowled more than 1 over.
