Impact Player

Unadkat says he has never been a fan of the Impact Player.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

After two seasons of the Impact Player provision being used in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, it was communicated to all the teams in mid-October that convention would be restored in the domestic T20 competition. The decision came just a few days after the BCCI said it will continue with the ruling in the IPL for another three seasons.

Among the players taking part in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, there seems to be consensus that the call to do away with it in domestic cricket is the right one.

The major issue, expressed notably by Rohit Sharma during last season’s IPL, was the adverse effect on all-rounders. They were not playing much of a part given teams had the luxury of bringing in a specialist batter or bowler as required.

Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat cited the example of all-rounder Prerak Mankad, who batted at No. 3 and also bowled 19 overs of medium-pace in the group stage this season, to back the scrapping of the tactical substitution.

“I have never been a fan of the Impact Player. All-rounders are a crucial part of the game. You can see Prerak for us. He has bowled around 15 (19) overs in this edition whereas he bowled only 6-7 overs in 10-12 games when the Impact Player was in place. If we are looking to develop all-rounders in domestic cricket, then we don’t need this rule. All the teams are now back to looking at players with multiple skills rather than having eight batters and six bowlers in a game,” Unadkat said.

Tripura skipper Mandeep Singh echoed these views. “It led to more entertaining cricket maybe, but all-rounders were going out of the game. A lot of people did feel it was weird that you were having an extra batter and extra bowler. It wasn’t unfair because it was the same for both teams, but the fun of the game went away and there was an imbalance. Playing with just 11 players is the traditional way and I prefer that.”