"Impact Player rule is killing all-rounders"- Jonty Rhodes
Former South Africa cricketer Jonty Rhodes reckons that the Impact Player rule is killing the allrounder's role in T20 cricket. Rhodes accepted that he is not a big fan of the rule as it has limited the role of an allrounder and has resulted in some high-scoring games.
The Impact Player rule has been controversial ever since its inception in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023).
The rule allows a team to play an extra player anytime during the match which helps a team in both batting and bowling departments. As a result, the role of an allrounder has reduced to a fair extent.
The rule has also allowed the batters to be more fearless which has resulted in some high-scoring games this year. Big international players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Mohammed Siraj have already spoken against the rule publicly.
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Jonty Rhodes is not in favor of the Impact Player rule
While speaking to news agency IANS, Jonty Rhodes said that the rule provides the freedom to the players to play their shots but limits the role of an allrounder which is an important part in the game of cricket.
“I am siding myself with the right use of the Impact player rule because players are almost playing with freedom so I’m just worried about the role of an all-rounder because it’s a simple role but plays a vital job in cricket and you need that for Test cricket, 50-over, and all other T20s as well,” Jonty Rhodes stated.
Impact Player rule is killing the role of allrounders, says Jonty Rhodes
The former South African international claimed that he is not a big fan of the rule but also asserted that it's not his job to use the strategy. Jonty Rhodes added that the Impact Player rule is killing the role of allrounders which is not good for the development of cricket.
“So I am not a massive fan of that impact player and maybe I’m just not smart enough to work out when the right strategy to use the player is. But again, it’s not my decision when to send a player in, so I’m not losing sleep about it," Rhodes said.
"I’m always up for change and to try things to adapt the game, and make it more exciting and enjoyable. And I think it certainly did that, big scores were put on the board in last season. But I’m still really concerned about the role of the all-rounder, the importance of the role of the all-rounder in T20 cricket, and the Impact Player rule is certainly killing it,” the legendary fielder added.
Earlier, Rohit Sharma had raised concerns over this controversial rule claiming that it is detrimental to the growth of allrounders. Even fast bowler Mohammed Siraj is also against the rule. Siraj reckoned that the bowlers have very little chance to escape because the batters have the utmost freedom to express themselves.
But some players have come out in favor of the rule as well. Ravichandran Ashwin is one of those players as he stated that the rule provides 'more value for strategy.' Former India fast bowler Zaheer Khan is also in favor of the rule.
