SA20 likely to become second T20 competition after IPL to implement Impact Player Rule: Report

While the use of the Impact Player role in the Indian Premier League has faced criticism from several big names including India captain Rohit Sharma, Cricket South Africa is reportedly considering implementing it in the SA20 from next season.

The rule was implemented in the IPL last year. It allows the teams to substitute a player - batsman or bowler - during their respective innings as per the demands of the situation in the match. For example, Kolkata Knight Riders decided to use Manish Pandey as an impact player during their game against Mumbai Indians earlier this season.

Till that game, Pandey had not played a single match in IPL 2024. However, with KKR reeling at 57 for 5, he was used as an impact player and he went on to score crucial 42 runs while sharing a match-winning stand of 83 runs with Venkatesh Iyer.

While the rule has definitely made the games more entertaining for the fans as teams have been scoring runs for fun this season, several players and experts have raised their concerns. Last month, Rohit expressed his concerns over the rule and said that it holds back the development of allrounders.

"I generally feel that it is going to hold back [development of allrounders] because eventually cricket is played by 11 players, not 12 players. I'm not a big fan of impact player. You are taking out so much from the game just to make it little entertainment for the people around," Rohit had said on the Club Prairie Podcast, which is co-hosted by former cricketers Adam Gilchrist and Michael Vaughan.

"But if you look [at] genuinely just cricketing aspect of it…. I can give you so many examples - guys like Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube are not getting to bowl, which for us [India team] is not a good thing," he added.

SA20 to implement Impact Player Rule:

According to a report in Cricbuzz, CSA has shown interest in implementing the Impact Player Rule in the next edition. The report stated that the board wanted to implement it in the last season itself but eventually decided against it since the auctions were already done and the franchises had not been able to form their squads by keeping the impact player rule in mind.

The rule will be on the agenda when the South African tournament's administrators gather to plan the 2025 edition. That meeting will be held after the ICC releases its updated playing conditions, which are usually published on October 1. If the rule is approved, SA20 is likely to implement it.