The 16th edition of the Indian Premier League is now a week old and already has already seen some exciting cricket and intense matches amongst 10 well-balanced teams. Most of the first week was dominated by the news off the ground as a host of injuries and unavailability of players due to other commitments impacted almost all the teams significantly. The introduction of the ‘Impact Substitution’ was also a big talking point.
Injury and unavailability
Players like Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant, and Jonny Bairstow withdrew their names from the IPL even before a ball was bowled in the tournament. However, in the last week a host of players also joined the list. The two biggest names are Kane Williamson from Gujarat Titans and Shakib Al Hasan from Kolkata Knight Riders. Williamson injured his knee in the very first match of the tournament and will require a surgery that may take him even out of the World Cup 2023 which will be a huge blow for New Zealand. Shakib, on the other hand,decided to withdraw his name due to other commitments as Bangladesh Cricket Board is not so keen to provide the NOC to their star player keeping in mind the scheduled matches. Dasun Shanaka and Jason Roy replaced Williamson and Shakib respectively in their respective teams. There were also injuries to players like Shreyas Iyer, Rajat Patidar, Reece Topley, Mohsin Khan, and Mukesh Choudhary who will not take any part in this tournament this year.
New inclusions
On the other hand, there will be a group of players who are now available or will be soon available after completing their international commitments. A bunch of South Africans like Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada, Aiden Markram, Anrich Nortje, and SisandaMagala have just recently joined their team. Some of the Sri Lankan players including WaninduHasaranga will also join their respective teams within next few days.
Impact Player
The Impact sub rule has proved to be an interesting one thus far. It resulted in teams effective playing with 12 players. As a result, the need for including all-rounders in the playing elevens are decreasing. Till now two performances stood out from the Impact subs; the bowling spell ofSuyash Sharma from Kolkata Knight Riders (3/30) and Dhruv Jurel’s 15-ball 32 for Rajasthan Royals.
