The ‘Impact Player’ rule in IPL is something that has divided opinions among the players and coaches over the last two seasons.

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.

Last year, the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma openly expressed their reservations over this rule, with the latter claiming that it is holding back the all-rounders. However, the BCCI decided to continue with the rule in the ongoing IPL 2025 season.

Now, Rajasthan Royals (RR) head coach Rahul Dravid has joined the criticism bandwagon, citing that he is not a fan of the Impact Player rule.

While Dravid agreed that the rule has made IPL matches more competitive, he also argued it is hampering the development of all-rounders, especially from the perspective of the national team.

“I’ll be honest: when I was India’s coach, I wasn’t particularly fond of the Impact Player rule. Not because it doesn’t make the game more competitive — it certainly does. It adds complexity and keeps matches alive till the very end. But from a national team perspective, it posed some challenges,” Dravid said in an exclusive chat with Sportstar.

“As a coach, you want to develop all-rounders, and under the old 11 vs 11 format, certain players would have had more opportunities to bat or bowl in different situations. The Impact Player rule has changed that to some extent," he added.

Dravid further said the Impact Player rule had led to a rise in scoring rates while also acknowledging that it had helped teams stay in the game for a lot longer than before.

“Statistically, scoring rates have increased due to teams having an extra specialist batter. This means no team is ever truly out of a game. You can have a batter at No.8 or even No.9, which allows for aggressive hitting even after losing six or seven wickets,” he remarked.

Recently, Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis also called for the removal of Impact Player rule from the IPL, suggesting that it is not helping Indian cricket.

"I think they should move on from it — unless it’s going to be introduced in international cricket. Otherwise, it doesn’t serve much purpose, especially for Indian cricket. I would love to see the rule scrapped. I actually thought it would be this year," Stoinis said in a conversation with Sportstar.