Impact Player Rule IPL 2026: Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill has added his voice to the growing chorus of criticism surrounding the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) Impact Player rule, stating that it compromises the game's difficulties and reduces the value of skill.
Indian cricketers Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, and Axar Patel have vociferously voiced their discontent with the Impact Player rule.
At an IPL captains' meeting in Mumbai, Shubman Gill and other leaders pushed for a review of the Impact Player rule, introduced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2023. Gill subsequently criticised the rule, stating it compromises the game's intricacies.
"Personally, I don't think there should be an impact player. I think cricket in general is an 11-player game, and on wickets where we play on the grounds that we play, adding an extra batsman, I think it takes the skill out of the game," said Gill.
"There's a certain skill in the game that you need to have. When you have a certain amount of batters and if a couple of your batters get out, there's an amount of skill that you need to have to still get the scoreboard moving and get your team to a good score,” said the India ODI and Test captain.
"With that one extra player, it's making the game more one-dimensional and it's taking a little bit of the skill out of the game. Chasing 180 on a challenging wicket or 160 on a challenging wicket is for me, it's personally way more exciting than chasing 220 on a flat wicket," he added.
The BCCI is unlikely to review the Impact Player rule until after IPL 2027.
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"It's gonna be there till 2027. It's something that we also spoke about in the captain's meeting yesterday. I understand it makes the game a bit more entertaining, but let's see. It's there. It's up to them what the BCCI is going to do, they're gonna take their decision, but personally I don't like it," added Gill.