The usage of the Impact Player rule at the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been a controversial and hotly debated topic in the cricket fraternity.
The Impact Player rule, which was introduced in the 2023 season, allowed all IPL teams to substitute a player during their respective innings as per the situation of the match.
Not every franchise owner or cricketer have been a fun of this new rule, including star players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who were critical of it as they believed it negatively affected the development of Indian allrounders.
However, in a recent interview, former India fast bowler Zaheer Khan came out in support of the Impact Player rule, which was also backed by Indian off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who said that the rule made the game much fairer.
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Why does Zaheer Khan support the controversial Impact Player Rule in the IPL, which was criticised by Rohit Sharma?
Former India pacer Zaheer, who was recently appointed as the mentor of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) franchise shared his opinion about the highly debated Impact Player rule in the IPL, at the team's headquarters in Kolkata.
"There has been a debate around the impact sub rule. I'm going on record to say that I'm all for it," the former India fast bowler told reporters.
The 45-year-old on the contrary believed that the introduction of the rule had in fact benefitted Indian domestic players.
"It has definitely given opportunities to a lot of uncapped Indian talents. It is something you will see this in the mega auction when teams will be looking at them," he said.
"That opportunity goes a long way with improving Indian cricket on the whole. The time spent in match time, it's something you cannot beat. That's the biggest plus."
Coming to the main point of debate about the rule, which is the development of Indian allrounders, he said that top quality and genuine allrounders should thrive regardless of the impact player rule.
"As far as all-rounders are concerned, right now there is no space for a half all-rounder because of the impact sub rule. But if you are a genuine all-rounder, then no one can stop you. There is always going to be a value addition with the ability with bat and ball," he concluded.
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