Since teams found it difficult to implement the impact sub last season, they have gotten more adept at it in IPL 2024. Does this mean that the competition has essentially shifted to 12-a-side play?
The latest Impact Player to turn in a game-winning effort was Jos Buttler, who helped Rajasthan Royals chase down Kolkata Knight Riders’ substantial 223/6 on Tuesday.
In essence, a bowler who had no part to play in the game as a batter had been replaced by a batter, a foreign player, and a legendary white-ball player. Buttler has scored two hundreds as an impact sub. Against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Jaipur, he scored a century without hitting an out after he replaced Yuzvendra Chahal.
Even though the extra batting option has increased scores, it is still unclear if it is beneficial for Indian cricket. The Impact Player rule does not require teams to choose that path, even though India has always struggled to produce and breed all-rounders since the 2011 World Cup. The IPL was intended to serve as a platform for nurturing all-rounders or helping players acquire an additional skill.
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We have a strong leg-spinner in Rahul Tewatia of the Gujarat Titans, but his role has been limited to that of a 15-ball hitter and his leg-spin has not been relied upon. Another bowler with some seam ability is Shivam Dube of CSK, but like him, he has only ever been used as a top-order batsman and spin bowling killer; as a result, his bowling ability has been put in cold storage.
As of right now, Ravindra Jadeja is the only all-round player in Indian cricket that is utilized in the IPL as a bowler as well as a batsman. When Hardik Pandya does bowl, he does it hesitantly and often goes for a lot of runs. The batting prowess of Krunal Pandya has not really been required. Another possible possibility, Axar Patel, has batted at No. 7 or lower in IPL, so he hasn’t been very effective as a batsman.
The days of Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma scoring two hat-tricks each are long gone, as captains now want an additional bowling option from someone in the top six.
How one wishes one could witness a Shahrukh Khan bowl two overs for fifteen and then hit thirty off fifteen balls for the Gujarat Titans, or a Darshan Nalkande deliver with both bat and ball.
How Ajit Agarkar and co. would love to have a few of names to choose from while selecting the T20 World Cup side as choices for the allrounder’s role.
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