Delhi Capitals (DC) all-rounder Akshar Patel is the latest player to criticize the 'Impact Player' rule, currently being used in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Akshar believes his batting position has been affected by this rule, while his DC teammate Mukesh Kumar wants it to be abolished.

The Impact Player rule was introduced in IPL 2023. Under this rule, each team can name as many as four substitute players along with their playing XI at the toss. One of them can replace a member from the original XI during the match and the player will be called Impact Player.

"Whosoever is making the rules, they are thinking that everything will work as per batter's convenience. Obviously, it has been difficult (for the bowlers). According to me, it's difficult but obviously you will have the opportunity as well that you can perform well in that situation, if you have the skills then how you can use them," Akshar told PTI during a select media interaction.

"Because of the Impact sub rule, everyone gets one more batsman so they think that they will use the batsman in case, the batting unit doesn't go well. And whosoever comes to play, they don't take much time and starts from the first ball because they know that they have a player in seventh or eighth place," he added.

"That is why I am not a big fan of impact player rule, because as an all-rounder I know that they will either take a proper batsman or a bowler, not an all-rounder."

Akshar said he had already shared his views with DC skipper Rishabh Pant on this subject.

"We (Rishabh), Dada (Sourav Ganguly) and Ricky (Ponting) have talked about it. I can play early, but if you want to give the chance to young player, then you have to give them their position, but because of that (Impact Sub rule) I have to come down the order."

DC pacer Mukesh Kumar feels the rule is unfair on bowlers as there is no respite even if you get four batters out quickly.

"If 12 players are not playing at the international level, then what is the need of it in IPL? With 12 players, even if four wickets are down the next player is not scared of getting out or making the team stable, they come and play their shots. So either the nature of tracks should be changed or 12 should not be allowed."

DC’s Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly and head coach Ricky Ponting, however, thinks otherwise, saying a good all-rounder will always make it to the playing XI.

"Little bit (affected) but good all-rounder still play, isn't it? Hardik Pandya is still playing. You look at Rashid, he's playing. He's in the 11th straight away, so good ones will always play. Glenn Maxwell played, obviously, he's taken a bit of a break, Mitch Marsh played for us, although he didn't get enough runs for us. But good ones will always be apart because they contribute either with the bat or with the ball," Ganguly said.

"I don't think it diminishes the all-rounder's role but then for average all-rounders you have the option of bringing in a better batsman and a better bowler, but the good ones will always find a place in the side."

Ponting too endorsed Ganguly’s views on the much-debated subject and said: "I think it's a bit of both. I think the batting skills have gotten better as well. I think the mindsets have changed a little bit. So when you put all those three things together, that's why we're seeing these 250 plus scores being made. You know what we saw in our game the other night was incredible, you know, for a team to get 125 in the power play.”

"We were doing some good things as well, but the impact player is definitely helping. You can stack your batting at the top. You can allow your batters to go out and play with freedom, and then if you get in trouble you can bring in a batsman to try and fix things up. So it's definitely helping but it's not ideal for a coach (to comment) and it's probably not. I'm not sure if it's good for all-rounders or bad for all-rounders but it seems to be leading to more runs," Ponting concluded.

(With PTI Inputs)