Impact Player rule to be abolished? BCCI's final decision revealed ahead of IPL 2025 mega-auction

The Impact Player rule has been a big topic of discussion in the Indian cricket fraternity ever since it was introduced in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The rule was introduced in the league during the IPL 2023 season.

The rule allows the teams to bring in a 12th player at any point during a game to replace a player from the XI after the toss. The main motive of the rule was to ensure more opportunities for Indian players, especially the uncapped ones who usually struggle to find a regular chance in the playing XI. However, the rule has not really managed to serve that purpose so far.

Earlier this year, India captain Rohit Sharma publicly expressed his reservations against the Impact Player rule, saying that it hinders the progress of the players. The veteran batsman had also stated that he was not a big fan of the rule before highlighting that several Indian allrounders such as Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube were affected by it.

"I generally feel that it is going to hold back [development of allrounders] because eventually cricket is played by 11 players, not 12 players," Rohit had said on the Club Prairie Podcast. "I'm not a big fan of impact player," he had added.

Rohit was not the only Indian player to openly criticize the rule. The likes of Mohammed Siraj, Axar Patel, and Mukesh Kumar had also called for the rule to be scrapped.

Impact Player rule to stay:

With the Impact Player rule garnering attention for all the wrong reasons, it was a key topic during the recent meeting between the BCCI and the IPL franchise owners. There were calls from several quarters to scrap the rule. However, RevSportz has reported that the rule will stay as the BCCI has decided against scrapping it for the time being.

Break - Retired players considered as uncapped players is unlikely to be accepted, 3 franchises are strictly against it
Impact player rule will stay
Sources @RevSportzGlobal

— रोहित जुगलान Rohit Juglan (@rohitjuglan) August 2, 2024

One of the main reasons behind the BCCI's decision could be the broadcasters' stand on the matter. While players and coaches as well as some franchise owners have called for the rule to be scrapped, the broadcasters, who have invested more than INR 45,000 crore into the league, reportedly wanted the rule to continue.