While many cricket boffins have criticized the Impact player rule in the IPL, the tournament’s chairman Arun Dhumal has backed the rule, which was introduced in IPL 2023. According to the new rules which were released by the IPL governing council on Saturday, the Impact player rule is set to stay until 2027.

Dhumal reckons if an all-rounder wants to find a place, he has to raise the bar. Many experts believe that the impact player rule is diminishing the role of the all-rounder in a team.

Arun Dhumal said in an interview with Indian Express “Impact players have added value to the tournament. If you see the last season, the scores we had were phenomenal compared to the previous season. The idea is to give a platform to an additional batter or a bowler, so that they can perform with their skillset.

“One argument was the all-rounders are missing out. But if you look at it closely, all the top class all-rounders were never left out. Be it Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) or (Sunil) Narine, be it anyone. If an all-rounder wants to find a place, he has to raise the bar as an all-rounder,” he added.

Furthermore, players would get a match fee worth INR 7.5 Lakh in addition to the contracted amount, according to new rules. Dhumal added that the idea to introduce match fees is to derive the maximum benefit to Indian players.

“We have seen in the past seasons that at times players get picked for a smaller amount but once he gets an opportunity, he performs exceedingly well and continues to play the entire tournament. For such a player, it makes sense that even if they get picked for a lesser amount during the auction, they get a respectable amount.

“So the idea is to derive the maximum benefit to our players, who are the most important stakeholders of this league,” he concluded.

IPL mega auction is expected to take place in December.