'I AM NOT A BIG FAN': Rohit Sharma SLAMS major IPL rule implemented by BCCI

Mumbai Indians' star batsman, Rohit Sharma, recently shared his reservations about the impact player rule in the IPL, expressing concerns over its implications for Team India's preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024. With IPL 2024 set to conclude on May 26 and the T20 World Cup beginning on June 2, co-hosted by the USA and the West Indies, Rohit believes that the rule is limiting opportunities for all-rounders to bowl, potentially affecting Team India's balance for the ICC tournament.

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Rohit Sharma speaks his mind on IPL's impact player rule

Speaking on the podcast ‘Club Prairie Fire,’ alongside former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist and ex-England captain Michael Vaughan, Rohit Sharma voiced his concerns, saying, “I am not a big fan of 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."

He continued, “I don't know what you can do about it. There are 12 players for you, it is entertaining, you can bring on the impact player after watching how the game is going, how the pitch is behaving. If you bat well and you don't lose wickets, you can add another bowler, it gives you an option of six or seven bowlers. You don't require that extra batter because a lot of teams are batting well up front and you hardly see a No 7 or No 8 coming to bat.”

Responding to Rohit's concerns, Adam Gilchrist emphasized that the 'impact player' rule might compromise the integrity of cricket for the sake of entertainment. “I think it has added something special. It's all built for spectators and for their entertainment. You are compromising the fundamental of the cricket. Why T20 was so entertaining, because you were not compromising with the integrity of cricket," Gilchrist said.

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Adam Gilchrist further elaborated, "It is 11 vs 11, same size field, the field restrictions are also the same. There was no gimmick needed. I think it is bit concerning. They showed the stats 250+ score in 2008-2023 IPL was only 2 times and this year IPL it's already 4 250+ scores. It's not bad bowling, it's just people coming free mindset & smacking all over the part. That's how T20 cricket played these days."