New Delhi, October 10, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Royal Challengers Bengaluru batting coach and mentor Dinesh Karthik has backed retaining the Indian Premier League’s Impact Player rule for the 2027 season, arguing that scrapping it midway through the current cycle would unfairly disadvantage teams that have built their squads around the provision.
While acknowledging that the rule has reduced opportunities for India to develop all-rounders, Karthik said any decision to discontinue it should be taken only after the current IPL cycle concludes.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Karthik said the rule initially added excitement by encouraging high-scoring contests and giving teams greater opportunities to chase big totals. However, he believes its appeal has gradually diminished.
“When it first came on, it was very good because there were high-scoring games and there were a lot of teams that were almost chasing it down. But strangely, this last season, there were not too many close games,” Karthik said.
He observed that matches increasingly appeared to follow a pattern in which one team posted a big total and the other chased it, adding that the rule had gradually lost some of the novelty and relevance it initially brought to the tournament.
Karthik also pointed to its impact on player development, arguing that the additional substitution option had reduced the need for teams to rely on players capable of contributing with both bat and ball.
“It helped make the game more high-scoring than what it was. But it definitely decreased the chances of India as a cricketing country producing all-rounders,” he said.
Despite these reservations, Karthik stressed that removing the rule before IPL 2027 would create an uneven playing field. Teams have assembled their squads with the availability of an Impact Player in mind, effectively planning to use 12 players rather than the conventional 11.
He warned that a sudden change could favour teams better equipped to operate without the additional player while leaving others at a disadvantage.
“What I wouldn’t want is it to be scrapped for this season because teams have been picked with having an impact player in mind,” Karthik said, adding that the rule could be reconsidered after the season.
He also argued that changes to major playing conditions should be introduced at the beginning of a tournament cycle and withdrawn only when that cycle ends.
The Impact Player rule was introduced in IPL 2023, after the 2022 mega auction. The current cycle is scheduled to run through 2027, following the 2025 mega auction.
Karthik maintained that any decision on the rule should respect that timeline, even as the IPL considers its longer-term implications for match competitiveness and the development of all-rounders.
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