"Aur koi masala daalne ki zaroorat nahi hai" - MS Dhoni slams impact player rule in IPL
Former India captain MS Dhoni has slammed the 'Impact Player' rule in the Indian Premier League (IPL), saying that the tournament was already going well when it was first introduced, and that it did not need anything else to spice it up.
Speaking to Jio Hotstar (via NDTV), the Chennai Super Kings wicketkeeper-batter mentioned that the implementation of the Impact Player rule was not needed because the quality of cricket was good and a lot of players were coming through the ranks.
"When it first came out, I said one thing that IPL is in such a good position, aur koi masala daalne ki zaroorat nahi hai (there's no need to spice it up further). Games were already quite high-scoring, they were going well, and the matches were quite competitive. We have seen it often in this format that matches end in five overs — you lose too many wickets, fail to make proper runs and the opposition wins easily," Dhoni said.
"If you lose a few wickets early, more often than not you are out of the game. So, when this rule came, I felt it was not really needed at this point of time because TRP is up, the quality of cricket is good, good players were coming up but it was implemented," he elaborated.
First implemented in IPL 2023, the Impact Player rule allows a team to substitute any of their cricketers in the playing XI for another who can help the team with a specialized skill set as and when it wants to do so. For example, a team can substitute a batter towards the end of its innings for a bowler and vice-versa.
"In a way, it helps me but it still doesn't help me" - MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni also weighed in on the topic of high-scoring matches in the IPL. Big totals have become the norm in the tournament, especially in matches concerning SunRisers Hyderabad, whose home ground of Uppal is known to be a featherbed for batters.
The 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup-winning captain felt that the impact player rule did not have much to do with high totals being scored. However, it did give a team some comfort to have an extra batter, Dhoni mentioned.
"In a way, it helps me but it still doesn't help me because I still do my keeping so I am not an impact player, I have to be involved in the game. Also, some people are saying that because of the impact player rule, games have become high-scoring. I think it is due to conditions. The extra batter gives you comfort. It's not like because of that extra batter, you have scored a lot," said Dhoni.
Chennai Super Kings won their first match of the ongoing IPL by beating arch-rivals Mumbai Indians at home on Sunday, March 23. Dhoni walked out to bat towards the end of the game, remaining unbeaten on 0 as CSK chased their target of 156 down comfortably.