Cricket is all set to establish a fresh umpiring signal to the 20 or so that by now exist. The introduction of Impact Player, a novel idea that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) claims “would bring a new tactical/strategic dimension to the game,” will be signaled by the umpires during IPL 2023.
Along with the new toss rule that allows captains to declare their starting lineup after the coin is flipped, the IPL’s most recent season will provide some fresh perspectives to the T20 game, which is always growing.
The BCCI statement
The head coach of a squad claims that the new regulations will alter their cognitive abilities and states, “We will have to analyze some variations and see how it impacts the balance of the sides.”
The BCCI stated that it “will preserve IPL’s place at the vanguard of innovative cricket and continue the growth of the T20 format” in a memo that announced the new umpire signal and rules of the Impact Player.
The BCCI’s mail to the franchises
The BCCI has informed franchises that following the toss, as was recently implemented in SA20, captains may select their starting XI. Before the toss, the captains were required to declare the starting XI. Expanding the DRS’s scope to include wide balls and no balls is another new regulation. The rules of the game specify that a player is additionally permitted to appeal any decision that was made by the on-field umpires regarding wide or no ball.
Impact Player’s debut is the biggest change in this IPL. This is the way the regulation will play out. According to the BCCI, the Captain will identify the Impact Player to the umpire, and the umpire will indicate in the manner as depicted in the above image signifying that the Impact Player has been introduced.
The BCCI updates on the new toss rules
The BCCI states that at present the skippers will need to exchange the franchises before the toss take place. This has been practiced to exchange teams soon after the toss to enable the skippers to select their best XI on the possibility of them batting or bowling first. It will eventually help the team to plan for the impact player.
Both the skippers will carry two team sheets
- Starting XI and 5 substitutes if they are batting first
- Starting XI and 5 substitutes if they are bowling first
The skippers will exchange the team sheets depending on the result of the toss.
The BCCI Impact Player regulations
At the time of the toss, teams must select five substitutes and their starting XI. Only one substitute who is listed on the team sheet can be used as an Impact Player.
In each match, only one Impact Player can be used by either team. It is, be that as it may, not necessary. Teams can choose whether or not to utilize the Impact Player.
Importantly, the BCCI clarified that a player who is replaced by an Impact Player (the Replaced Player) cannot continue playing in the match or even return as a substitute fielder.
If the team uses Impact Player to replace a player who gets hurt while fielding mid-over, the injured player cannot play in the match. If this is not the case, Impact Player can only be introduced in an above-mentioned manner.
Unless there are fewer than four international players in the Playing XI, the Impact Player can only be an Indian player, as previously mentioned.
Only when a team names fewer than four international players for the starting XI can an overseas player be used as an Impact Player. An Impact Player can only be a foreign player who is one of the five substitutes listed on the team sheet. A fifth international player cannot participate in a game if a team uses an overseas player as an Impact Player.
The introduction of the Impact Player can only be communicated by the Captain to the on-field or fourth umpire at the wicket fall or when the batter retires during an over or innings break. After the presentation of Effect Player in the game, a player can bat and may bowl a full portion of 4 overs in continuous innings.