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Impact player is why I’m ultra aggressive in the powerplay: Virat Kohli
Follow UsThis season, Kohli has been striking at 165.1 in the powerplay, by some distance the highest SR for him in the 1-6 phase in a season
Virat Kohli, who has unleashed a never-seen-before aggressive version of himself in Indian Premier League 2024, has revealed that the batting security provided by the introduction of the Impact Player rule is what’s enabled him to bat ultra-aggressively in the powerplay and take the bowlers on from the get go.
This season, Kohli has been striking at 165.1 in the powerplay, which by some distance is the highest SR for him in the 1-6 phase in a season. The difference has been so stark that his previous best SR in the 1-6 phase was just 139.6, which came way back in 2018.
“I am telling you, one extra batter is the reason why I am playing with a 200-plus strike rate in the powerplay. I know there is a batsman coming in at No. 8 as well,” Kohli told Jio Cinema on May 18 (Saturday).
However, the 35-year-old, while acknowledging that the Impact Player rule is a boon for batters, ultimately voiced his displeasure with it and asserted that its introduction has pretty much killed the balance between bat and ball.
Kohli is the latest Indian player to speak against the Impact Player rule, following Rohit Sharma, Axar Patel, Mukesh Kumar, and Mohammed Siraj.
"I agree with him [Rohit]; I say it how it is. If you see in this IPL, okay, entertainment is [on] one side, but the bowlers are feeling like what they should do [to restrict the batters]," Kohli said of the Impact Player rule.
"I have never experienced anything like it where bowlers think they will concede a four or a six every ball. This is a very high-level of cricket, and in my opinion, it shouldn't be that dominant [in one aspect]. There is a beauty in having an equal battle between bat and ball.
"Not every team has a [Jasprit] Bumrah or a Rashid Khan or a mystery bowler. So what will you do?
"As a batsman, I can say this rule is good, but the match should be exciting. Only fours and sixes are not exciting in cricket. Exciting is that you can defend 160 as well. So I think a bit of balance has been tipped over."
The Impact Player rule was introduced by the BCCI in IPL 2023, but teams have taken advantage of it fully only this season. IPL 2024 has already witnessed several batting records, including the highest total in IPL history, get shattered. This season has also witnessed Punjab Kings pull off the highest chase in T20 history.
With high-profile individuals such as Kohli and Rohit speaking against the rule, it remains to be seen whether the BCCI will persist with the Impact Player rule post IPL 2024.
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