The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) adopted the Impact Player Rule for the India Premier League and domestic circuit a few years ago. Jonty Rhodes, the fielding coach for the Lucknow Super Giants, is not a fan of this rule. Prior to being adopted in the IPL, the implementation was originally made on an experimental basis in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT). All-rounder roles were finally restricted as a result, and both Virat Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma expressed their disapproval.
Rhodes reiterated the sentiment, pointing out that the regulation is impeding the development of all-rounders. He claimed that the Impact Player significantly improves matches by encouraging higher-scoring games, which increases the product’s appeal and excitement but has a price tag.
“I am concerned about the role of an all-rounder because it’s a basic role but plays a vital job in cricket and you need that for test cricket 50 over and all other T20s as well. I am siding myself with the right use of the Impact player rule because players are almost playing with freedom,” Rhodes was cited by News18.
Therefore, I’m not a huge fan of the impact player, and it’s possible that I’m simply not intelligent enough to recognise when using the player is the best course of action. Again, though, I’m not worried about it because I have no say in when a player is sent in. I’m always willing to try new ideas and tweak the game to make it more thrilling and pleasurable. And large scores were scored last season, so I believe it did that for sure. However, he continued, “I’m still genuinely concerned about the all-rounder position, its significance in T20 cricket, and the Impact Player rule is definitely killing it.
Jonty Rhodes gives an overview of RTM card usage.
Regarding the retention policy and the use of RTM cards in the impending big auction, BCCI officials have not yet made their decision public. According to Rhodes, teams ought to be allowed to keep a lot of players on staff since it fosters a sense of unity within the group.
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It is evident that retention and the number of players one can have are problematic since, as a coach, you want to instill a culture within a club. Right to match is a matter of okay for me since it’s really difficult to achieve that when you’re losing a significant portion of your team in the mega auctions. But since that’s how you develop a team culture, the real question is whether we can keep more than just two, three, or four players.