(Cricket News) The head coach of Delhi Capitals, Ricky Ponting spoke about the new impact player rule, that has been introduced since the last IPL. Ponting said that the rule has given nightmares to him as a coach but also it a spectacle for all the cricket fans.

Ponting said that if the rule is for making the tournament a ‘better spectacle’, then the IPL should retain it. “It’d be really interesting to hear what the public think about it. If the everyday viewer really likes it and thinks it’s good, then it can continue.”

“If the average person gets a bit confused by it and doesn’t know what’s going on – an Impact Player here, someone goes in, someone comes out – if they are confused by it [then you have a rethink]. At the end of the day, we’ve got to think about the product that’s going there and what everyone’s watching as well”, Ponting said.

Talking about himself, Ponting said that he was not very keen on the impact player rule which involves 12 players in a game as a part of tactical changes. While the rule was accepted by the teams last year, there has been some voices of opposition against the same this year.

Rohit Sharma, the Indian captain also mentioned while in a podcast with Club Prairie Fire, that he is not a very big fan of this rule and that cricket is a game of 11 players. The impact player has a taken a lot out of the game, specially for certain players and all rounders just to make the game a bit more entertaining for the fans.

Ponting agreed with Rohit, and said it would be a simpler job for a coach if he only had to pick the best XI.

“From a player’s point and a coach’s point of view, the game would be much easier if you just pick 11, just pick your best 11 and put the 11 on the park and go and play,” Ponting said. “Because I’ll tell you now, we’ll sit back after training tonight and select our teams and you’ve got to pick two teams and you’ve got to have your five impact guys. “There’s so many different ways you can go around doing that, looking at different combinations. It actually can be a bit of a nightmare.”

The impact player has had significant impact, specially in this years IPL. Teams like KKR, SRH are the ones which have been benefitted to the fullest, as the rule helps them with an additional batter in their already packed batting lineup. The 250 run mark has been crossed for 4 times this season. A total of 549 runs were scored in what was a batting gala in Bengaluru where RCB lost to Sunrisers by 25 runs.

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