IPL 2023: All You Need To Know About The New 'Impact Player' Rule

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The 2023 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) will be the first season to feature the 'Impact Player' rule. One substitute player apart from the playing XI can come into bat or bowl. However, the rule states that the 4 substitutes named cannot contain an overseas player if 4 foreign players are already named in the XI. 

How will the 'Impact Player' rule work?

Apart from playing XI, the team will have to also name 4 substitutes at the toss, out of which one can come in as an 'Impact Player'. 

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When can the 'Impact Player' come in?

There can be a number of occasions where the 'Impact Player' can come in. The captain can nominate the Impact Player at the start of an innings, at the end of an over, at the fall of a wicket or when a batter retires. If the bowling team brings in an Impact Player in the middle of an over - fall of wicket or the batter retires, the Impact Player cannot bowl the ongoing over. 

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What will happen to the replaced player?

The player who will be replaced by the Impact Player can no longer participate in the game, not even as a substitute fielder. 

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Why Impact Player cannot be an overseas player, unless..

If a team has named 4 overseas players in the playing XI, they cannot nominate any other overseas players in the four substitutes. Only an Indian player can be brought in as the Impact Player, even if they replace an overseas player in the playing XI. However, if a team starts with fewer than 4 overseas players, an overseas player can be brought in as the Impact Player. 

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Will the number of players who can bat increase?

No, the no. of players i.e. the number of wickets allowed for each team will remain the same. If a team brings in a batter in place of a batter who has been dismissed or retired, a bowler at the end would have to sacrifice his batting so that the maximum number of players batting remains 11. 

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How can the bowling team use 'Impact Player'?

If the 'Impact Player' is brought on by the bowling team, the player will be allowed to bowl a full quota of 4 overs regardless of the number of overs bowled by the player he's replacing. Let's consider an example where the bowling team has a powerplay specialist. According to the rule, they can replace this specialist after the powerplay with a death-over specialist, who can still come into bowl the full quota of 4 overs. 

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How will a delayed start affect this rule?

The 'Impact Player' won't be affected regardless of a delayed start.  The rule says that if "a delayed start reduces the total amount of overs available to both sides to less than 20 overs per innings prior to the commencement of the match … Impact Player can be utilised at any time during the match."