The IPL 2023 mini-auction will be held later this month, on December 23rd in Kochi. For that, the BCCI and the IPL have shared a list of 991 players (714 Indian and 277 overseas players) that have signed up for the auction with the franchises.
This list will be pruned down after all the 10 franchises have given their inputs regarding which players they’d want to be auctioned.
If every franchise were to have a maximum of 25 players in their squad, 87 players will be bought in the auction, of which up to 30 players can be overseas players.
Also, in what could be a big tactical change in the IPL 2023 playing conditions, the BCCI is strongly about introducing the ‘Impact Player’ rule in the IPL for the first time in the tournament’s history.
This rule was first introduced in this year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament on a trial basis and the feedback they received was very good. At a meeting of the IPL Governing Council, held on Thursday, the BCCI approved introducing the Impact Player rule in the IPL too.
The BCCI said in its letter to the franchises, “Note that from IPL 2023 Season a tactical/strategic concept will be introduced to add a new dimension to IPL, wherein one substitute player per team will be able to take a more active part in an IPL match. The regulations pertaining to the same will be issued shortly.”
This rule will offer teams a great deal of tactical flexibility that the management can use to strengthen their team performance by making changes based on the situation and the opposition.
What is the Impact Player rule?
During the SMAT, teams were allowed to name 4 substitutes in their team sheet apart from the regular XI. Any one of these substitute players could be used as their Impact Player.
The Impact Player could replace any member of the starting XI at any point before the end of the 14th over of either innings, and was allowed to bat and bowl his full allotment of overs.
Meaning that this Impact Player could replace a batsman who had already been dismissed, and still get to bat – as long as the team only used 11 batters in total – lengthening the batting line-up. Or he could replace a bowler who had already sent down a few overs, and still get to bowl his full four-over quota. This rule could help teams greatly who have powerplay specialists and death-overs specialists.
It would also help introducing an all-rounder after a proper batsman is dismissed. Or if a team loses less number of wickets, a batsman dismissed could be replaced by a bowler who can then bowl all his quota of overs.
