The head coach of Delhi Capitals and former Australia captain,
Ricky Ponting
, anticipates that high-scoring matches will remain commonplace in the Indian Premier League (IPL), regardless of whether the controversial '
Impact Player
' rule is abolished.
IPL 2024: Results | Points Table 110108322
Under the
Impact Player rule
, teams have the liberty to substitute one player from the initial XI declared at the toss at any point during the match.
Opinions on this rule are split; for instance, India captain Rohit Sharma criticizes it, suggesting it's disadvantageous for all-rounders who might not get opportunities to bowl. Conversely, others like Sourav Ganguly view it as a positive innovation.
"...there is a talk if the impact player remains in the IPL. If it doesn't, will the scores come down again? I am interested to see that. I am not sure they will," the three-time World Cup winner said during the release of Delhi Capitals' batting coach Pravin Amre's autobiography 'Zero FOR 5: The Thrilling Cricket Journey of Pravin Amre' in Delhi on Monday.
"Yes, the impact player does provide a bit of cushion for the guys at the top but I think the guys at the top are so used to going out and playing a certain way. I mean imagine trying to tell Jake Fraser-McGurk to play a different way or tell Travis Head to be a little bit defensive, that's just not going to happen," he explained.
(An umpire signalling introduction of Impact Player during an IPL 2024 match - Photo: video grab)
So far this IPL, the 200-run milestone has been surpassed 36 times, compared to just 37 times in the previous edition. BCCI secretary Jay Shah has mentioned that reconsidering the rule is a possibility if it's the desire of the stakeholders by the end of the IPL.
Ponting also addressed the difficulties of coaching a franchise, noting that the role presents more challenges compared to coaching a national team.
"I think it is a lot more difficult being a coach of a franchise team because the different nationalities involved, a few Australian coaches, couple of Australian players, couple of South African players, we have New Zealanders, we have Nepalese part of our squad over the journey," he said.
"And the hardest part of coaching with the franchise is only getting the players together for a few days before the first game of the season, when you are trying to create culture around the team, you haven't got much time with the players.
"It's really hard to do that, it is also hard to make big skill changes in such a short period of time," he listed the difficulties of the job.
In discussing the game's evolution over the past decade, Ponting noted that there's less room now for batters with a "classical technique."
"Look at the way England are trying to play now, they haven't got it exactly right yet...players have come through playing a lot of one-day or T20 cricket," he said.
"...there still is room for purist batsmen in Test match cricket, but that's going to be less and less," he pointed out.
Ponting mentioned that Indian superstar Virat Kohli and Englishman Joe Root stand out as some of the few top batters who possess a classical technique.
"...in the last 10 years, there is not a lot of classical technique in the modern-day batters, you look at the absolute best now, Joe Root is probably the most classical one," he said.
"Stephen Smith, what he has done over the years, has been a little bit different; Marnus Labuschagne has been a bit different with the way he plays; Virat is classically, technically very good as well, but I think there is a bit of a shift," Ponting said.
(With PTI inputs)
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