The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season has witnessed an unprecedented surge in scoring rates, largely attributed to the controversial impact player rule. Introduced last year, this rule allows teams to replace a member of their starting XI with a substitute at any stage of the match.
The rule has had a significant impact on the game, with five of the six highest team totals in IPL history occurring in the past month. There have already been six scores of 240+ this year, which had never happened multiple times during a season before. The scoring rate of 9.42 is the highest for an IPL season by a substantial margin.
The introduction of the impact player rule has sparked debate among players and coaches. Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting called it “a bit of a nightmare,” while Indian captain Rohit Sharma believes it has been detrimental to all-rounders. Royal Challengers Bengaluru quick Mohammed Siraj pleaded with a smile: “Please remove this impact sub thing.”
The Big Bash League introduced a similar X-factor rule ahead of the 2020/21 season, but it was scrapped a couple of years later. It remains to be seen whether the IPL will follow suit and revisit the impact player rule in the future.
