‘You will want your all-rounders to…’ – Former Indian cricketer weighs in on ‘Impact Player’ rule in the Indian T20 League

Aakash Chopra, a former Indian cricketer, believes that the “Impact Player” rule will not significantly affect the cost of all-rounders at the Indian T20 League 2023 auction. The new regulation allows teams to introduce a player as a replacement before the end of 14 overs in either inning of a game.

It is unclear if this will affect the auction pricing for top all-rounders like Sam Curran, Ben Stokes, Cameron Green, and Jason Holder. Chopra believes that won’t be the case since when a side has already fielded its preferred four foreign cricketers, the Impact Player rule does not apply to foreign players.

Aakash Chopra explained in depth why the desire for such outstanding all-rounders will prevent their value from falling in a video posted to his YouTube channel. He stated:

“I don’t feel the ‘Impact Player’ rule will impact the players’ pricing at the auction, especially all-rounders. Auction is all about supply and demand. When the supply is so less, naturally the demand will increase exponentially among a few teams. You can’t substitute overseas players so you will want your all-rounders to occupy the prime positions in the XI straightaway”

The former cricketer believed that the rule could have an impact on the growth of players with numerous skills, even though it may not have an impact on the prices of the top international all-rounders. Instead of relying on one true all-rounder for 40 overs, he believes that teams might want to incorporate two players with their major abilities.

“This impact player rule actually reduces the fascination of having all-rounders in the team. Because instead of playing a player with two skills, you can play two players with their primary skills alone. This changes the dynamics of the game completely.”

Chopra opined that which all-arounder will get the most attention: “All-rounders will be a hot property at the auction. The four big names in the overseas all-rounders’ list (Curran, Green, Stokes & Holder) will be the focus of attention and all will go for massive sums. Sam Curran’s demand will be a bit more than others.”