Trends Talk: How impactful is Impact Player rule?

The hot topic in discussion in the leadup of the 16th edition of Indian Premier League was the introduction of Impact Sub which could change the very semantics of the century old game. While substitution rules were part of white-ball cricket in recent years in the form of Super Sub in 50-over format and more recently the X-Factor Player in Big Bash League, what makes Impact Sub the real game changer is the fact the rule comes without any constraints of the two previous substitution rules. Unlike Super Sub and X-Factor, it considers the replaced player and the one taking his place as two separate entities (both replaced player and replacement can bat as well as bowl full quota of overs) and the swap can be made at any point of time during the match. All these things coupled with the fact teams have the option of changing the playing XI after the toss had made it effectively a 12 vs 12 contest. Impact Sub rule has indirectly dictated every major trend seen in the first week of the season.

Not much impact from the Impact Sub as such

Nine games into the tournament and every side bar RCB in their season opener against MI has made use of the Impact Player. Except for debutant Dhruv Jurel's sparkling cameo which nearly gave RR a win from a position of no hope against PBKS and Suyash Sharma's three wicket haul against RCB yesterday, though the outcome of the match was decided by the time he came on, the Impact Sub as such has not had a direct role in defining the result of a match. Across nine innings combined they have scored 183 runs at a strike rate of 127 while the 25.2 combined overs from them have accounted for seven scalps - three by Suyash Sharma alone - at an economy of 10.77.

However, the Impact Sub rule has had a domino effect in other multiple aspects of the game. As expected, teams batting first started off with an extra batter in their starting XI and replaced one of their specialist batters with a bowler/bowling all-rounder in the second half while the chasing sides went the other way around.

Impact Subs by sides batting first

Impact Subs by chasing teams

Teams go hard earlier with the extra depth

The extra batting depth has allowed teams to hit the ground running and most sides have gone hard in the Powerplay. The average Powerplay score after first nine games read 54, which is the second highest for an IPL edition at the same point of time, just marginally behind 56 in IPL 2018. Jos Buttler and Kyle Mayers have registered half centuries within the first six overs while Ruturaj Gaikwad and Prabhsimran Singh nearly emulated them.

Not much chasing advantage

Teams going harder early on has resulted in sides batting first put up totals above par on multiple instances which has abridged the impact of dew advantage for chasing sides - often a feature in the starting fortnight in the recent IPL seasons held in India. Despite captains winning the toss having opted to field every single time, chasing sides have won just three and lost six of the nine matches so far which is the best W-L ratio at the same point of time in an IPL season in India since 2015 (Sides setting target won five of the first nine matches in addition to a Super Over win in IPL 2020 in UAE) .The average first innings totals at this point of time reads 191 which is the highest ever in an IPL edition after the first nine games of a season, the previous highest for a season reading 182 in IPL 2020 held in UAE. In the nine matches thus far, teams that scored 180+ batting first successfully defended their total while all targets under 180 got chased down.

Highest avg 1st innings totals after nine matches

No more soft overs

The Impact Player rule has facilitated the teams to stockpile their XIs with bowlers and bowling all-rounders which has taken out the impact of the fifth and sixth bowlers (or the lack thereof), often the weak link in an attack. In the 18 innings so far, only in five innings have teams used the minimum of just five bowlers. Not surprisingly, the three of these instances came from DC and RR combined - the two teams that had balance issues (DC did not bowl Axar Patel and instead used three overs from Mitchell Marsh in their game against GT). CSK and KKR in the first two games are the other instances of teams not using more than five bowlers with the likes of Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Andre Russell and Anukul Roy going unused.

Bowlers used in each innings

Wrist spin dominates finger spin bar Chepauk

With pitches fresh at the start of the season, the finger spinners have had little on offer from the tracks which has prevented them from creating any significant impact. The one exception though has been Chepauk which has presented the driest track so far where CSK spinners made merry. With LSG going all guns blazing in the Powerplay at 73 without loss after five overs, Moeen Ali and Mitchell Santner pulled it back for the home side bowling eight overs between them for 47 runs dismissing half of LSG batters as CSK defended 217 by 12 runs. In eight other games combined outside Chepauk, finger spin picked only ten wickets at 42.10.

Finger vs wrist spin in IPL 2023

Finger spin at Chepauk vs other venues

The other new rules yet to come to the fore

The other new rule that was introduced at the start of the season was bringing wides and no balls under the ambit of DRS. It hasn't found many takers with just 11 of the 20 referrals on them so far.

The new rule introduced was the imposition of penalties in the form of bringing in one extra fielder inside the ring for time overshoots, IPL being the last among major leagues to adopt this rule. Despite this, none of innings that lasted full 20 overs were completed inside the stipulated time of 90 mins but only once a team was penalized for it - CSK against LSG (CSK did not help their cause by bowling 13 wides and three no balls in their bowling innings).