Bengaluru, March 27: The Impact Sub rule might have vertically divided the opinion of players and pundits but Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach Andy Flower on Friday termed it a “good innovation” as it offers tactical flexibility to teams in the IPL.
Leading voices such as India’s Test and ODI skipper Shubman Gill and former captain Rohit Sharma thought the Impact Sub rule takes the skill out of the game.
“I think it has been a good innovation, it’s interesting to be part of it. You’re making decisions on the impact player, and I think it’s interesting for the audience to debate what’s right and what’s wrong, so tactically it’s quite an interesting addition to the game,” Flower said on the eve of IPL’s 2026 season-opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
At the same time, Flower also said the Impact Player rule makes the decision making a bit tricky for the coaching staff.
“I must say that one of the things I love about cricket is that when you select an 11, one of the challenges you have is balancing your 11 – the length of the batting order, balancing, perhaps, some guys that can’t feel that well and it’s one of the things that makes selection a little bit tricky.
“The impact player rule hides that selection problem a little, so I think one of the great things about cricket is some of the debates around selection and when you select single-skilled players, you weaken another area of your game, the impact player can hide that, so there are pros and cons I think to it,” he added.
From an RCB perspective, deciding on the 11 can be a bit of a hustle because of the non-availability of lead pacer Josh Hazlewood.
Hazlewood, who was RCB’s top wicket-taker in IPL 2025, landed in Bengaluru on Thursday night but Flower said the management is keeping a close watch on the Australian’s fitness. (PTI)
