4 min readMar 26, 2026 09:47 PM IST
Shubman Gill minced no words in criticising the Impact Player rule in the Indian Premier League that has been in place since the 2023 edition, saying he doesn’t like the concept as it takes ‘the skill out of the game’.
According to the rule, teams can play an extra batter or bowler depending on the match situation and it has essentially made it a 12-vs-12 contest in the IPL.
“Personally for me, I don’t think there should be an impact player. I think cricket in general is an 11-players’ game and on wickets where we play on the grounds that we play, adding an extra batsman, I think it takes the skill out of the game,” the Gujarat Titans skipper said ahead of the new season.
“There’s a certain skill in the game that you need to have. When you have a certain amount of batters and if a couple of your batters get out, there’s an amount of skill that you need to have to still get the scoreboard moving and get your team to a good score. With that one extra player, it’s making the game more one-dimensional and it’s taking a little bit of the skill out of the game. Chasing 180 on a challenging wicket or 160 on a challenging wicket is for me, it’s personally way more exciting than chasing 220 on a flat wicket,” he added.
According to a PTI report, some IPL captains expressed reservations about the Impact Player rule at the captains’ meeting on Wednesday ahead of IPL 2026, starting on Saturday. “The majority of the captains gave their inputs on the Impact Player rule and expressed their reservations even though the BCCI has extended the rule till 2027. They were told it can only be reviewed after the 2027 edition and not before that,” an IPL source told PTI.
Gill confirmed the development regarding the captains’ meeting too. “It’s gonna be there till 2027. It’s something that we also spoke about in the captain’s meeting yesterday. I understand it makes the game a bit more entertaining, but let’s see. It’s there. It’s up to them what the BCCI is going to do, they’re gonna take their decision, but personally I don’t like it,” India’s Test and ODI captain said.
Earlier this week, Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel joined the likes of Rohit Sharma in criticising the rule too. “I don’t like this rule as I am an all-rounder myself. Earlier we used to pick all-rounders for this role (batting and bowling). Now the team management goes with a particular batter or bowler, they say why do we need an all-rounder? Being an all-rounder myself I don’t like it but at the same time, rules are rules. We have to follow them. But personally, I don’t like it,” Axar had said on Monday.
Story continues below this ad
In 2024, Rohit had said that he was not a fan of the Impact Player concept saying it hampered the development of all-rounders in Indian cricket, while the following season, Hardik Pandya said it had become difficult to pick an all-rounder in the side unless he was equally good with both bat and ball.
(With PTI inputs)
