"In the IPL, people think Impact Player rule is sort of taking something away from the all-rounders, but they still play a huge part" - Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler believes the Impact Player rule in the IPL has not been a detriment to the development of all-rounders. The England white-ball captain considers all-rounders a necessity and not a luxury. The Impact Player rule allows any player in the XI to be replaced by another listed in the five Impact Subs at any time during the game.

The IPL instituted the same ahead of the 2023 season and persisted with it in this year's tournament. However, the rule has met with mixed reactions, with stars like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli oppposing it and Ravichandran Ashwin vouching for it to continue.

In a recent interview with TOI, Buttler said the rule has no bearing on the value of all-rounders, calling them crucial to a team.

"I know in the IPL, people think the Impact Player rule is sort of taking something away from the all-rounders, but they still play a huge part. They're crucial to balancing the side. Even before the Impact Player rule came in, there were a lot of cricketers wanting to be involved, wanting to impact the game with both bat and ball," Buttler said.

He continued:

"All-rounders traditionally have been crucial for cricket teams, to lengthen the batting lineup, provide balance and different bowling options. All-rounders are not a luxury but a necessity. Having multi-skilled players is a huge benefit."

Jos Buttler has been occasionally used as an Impact Player by the Rajasthan Royals (RR) only during their batting innings over the past two seasons.

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"There are pluses and minuses to both" - Jos Buttler on spilt-coaching vs single all-format head coach

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Skipper Jos Buttler and head coach Mott during 2023 ODI World Cup [Credit: Getty]

Jos Buttler believes having one head coach for all formats and spilt-coaching for the white and red-ball formats have their share of advantages and disadvantages.

England went with the latter model in mid-2022, with Brendon McCullum taking over the Test side and Matthew Mott with the white-ball unit. However, they recently announced McCullum as the England head coach for all formats from 2025 with Mott's departure.

"There are pluses and minuses to both. Having that one guy across formats can have that consistent messaging, of course. At the time Brendon took over as Test coach along with Matthew Mott (former white-ball coach), the schedule for English cricket was incredibly busy. It looked impossible for one man to do it all. We had to balance that out," Buttler said in the same interview..

He further elaborated:

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"Now it's obviously gone back to having that single head coach, but you'll still have to be smart with schedules. There might be times when 'Baz' needs to step out for a series and one of the assistant coaches can take charge."

Buttler also acknowledged the importance of a captain's role, saying:

"There's more data but making those calls on the field is still crucial. It's such a short game, every ball is important, saving one run or two runs here and there can go a long way to winning a game. Making those calls as captain is vital. There's just more information for the captain if you need it."

Jos Buttler is recovering from a calf injury sustained in July and will miss the upcoming home ODI series against Australia.

Harry Brook will lead the side in his absence during the five-match series, starting September 19.

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