Delhi Capitals' owner Parth Jindal openly retaliates against BCCI move after IPL meeting

The co-owner of Delhi Capitals, Parth Jindal, has openly criticized the controversial Impact Player rule in the meeting between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) office-bearers and the IPL franchise owners, which took place at BCCI's headquarters in Mumbai on Wednesday (31 July) evening.

The Impact Player rule has received huge scrutiny ever since it was introduced in IPL 2023. The rule allows an extra player for a team during a match which enables the team to have an extra cushion while batting or bowling.

But the rule has proved to be degrading for the allrounders. Since the teams have the option of the Impact Player rule, they prefer specialist bowling or batting options instead of bowling part-timers or all-rounders.

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Parth Jindal gives a huge verdict on the Impact Player rule

While speaking at the meeting that went more than two hours, Jindal clearly said he was not in favor of the Impact player rule and termed it as 'Detrimental to Indian cricket.' After the meeting, Jindal revealed the repercussions of the rule and how it is hampering the growth of the all-rounders in Indian cricket.

“Some people want it because it gives a chance to young players to play in the IPL. Some people don’t want it because it is detrimental to Indian cricket in terms of the development of all-rounders. So, it’s a mixed bag and I’m in the second camp. I don’t want it. I prefer the game as it is, 11 vs 11…” Jindal said.

It will be up to the BCCI now to decide whether to keep the rule or not. It is believed that the board will transfer all the recommendations to the IPL governing council, which will decide the future course of action. The franchises will be informed about the decision by the end of August.

While speaking to the reporters, BCCI secretary Jay Shah stated that the board will consider all the recommendations and let the franchises know about the decision.

“The retention issue, the RTM issue, and all other aspects were discussed. We will let the franchises know about our decision in a week’s time,” Shah said.

Big players are not in favor of the Impact Player rule

The Impact Player rule resulted in huge scores in the IPL 2024 season. Due to the teams having an extra batter in their Playing XI, they did not hesitate to go hard at the bowling teams which resulted in 200-plus scores becoming very common.

India's Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma opened up about the disadvantages of the rule and said that it is not allowing the allrounders to thrive, which will affect India's future. Even RCB fast bowler Mohammed Siraj called for the rule to be scrapped immediately as the bowlers were becoming bowling machines.

The Impact player rule combined with the flat pitches of this year's IPL raised further questions about the bowlers' role in a team.

In IPL 2023, Australia allrounder Marcus Stoinis was also not in favor of the rule. Stoinis, who is a decent pacer in T20 cricket, hardly got any chance to bowl last season as Lucknow Super Giants preferred specialist bowling options above him.