The impact player rule actually negates the role of all-rounders in the game: Ricky Ponting

With the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 scheduled to begin on March 31, the forthcoming edition of the tournament promises to be one of the best ones yet. Mostly due to the significant rule changes that will be applied as the competition starts.

One of the most significant changes is the addition of the impact player rule, which allows every team to name five substitute players during the toss whom they can bring at specific points of the game as substitutes.  With the new rule set to make a significant impression on the matches, Delhi Capitals coach and former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting came forward to give his take on the impact player rule.

"It actually negates the role of all-rounders in the game now. So unless they're absolutely world-class and they're getting picked either as a batsman or as a bowler, not sort of a bits and pieces guy, then I don't think you'll see many, many teams this year use the guy that might bat at seven and maybe bowling over or two. Because you don't need those guys anymore," Ponting said at an event in New Delhi.

It depends if you bat or bowl first: Ponting

Ponting also talked about the impact player rule in depth; the legendary Aussie batter opined that the impact players could differ depending on whether the side chooses to bat or bowl first. He opined that skippers would come to the toss with a bowling first team and a batting first team.

"It [usage of Impact Player] depends if you bat or bowl first, so at the toss, we will be putting in a bowling-first team and a batting-first team. And obviously, if you bat first, you're probably going to bring in a batter. Or if you bat first and lose an early wicket, you might want to bring in a batter straight on top of that. So there are a number of different ways to use it," Ponting said.