The former Indian captain Mohammed Kaif stated that he wants to change the rules of the Indian Premier League. He believes that the game is favouring the batters more than the bowlers and that a balance needs to be brought in terms of the advantage offered. Majority of the games are high-scoring thrillers, where teams cross the 200-run mark with ease. Earlier totals around 170-190 were considered to be competitive totals but now they are considered as low scores. He wishes to remove the impact player rule as it gives the batters an unfair advantage and the bowlers are put under more pressure. All the proposed changes have the ultimate goal to uphold the spirit of the game and to bring balance in the sport.

"I would like to see two main changes in the IPL. First, I want the ground size to be fixed and a bit bigger so bowlers can have a fair chance in the game. Each team scores 250-300 in almost every match easily, and scores of 150-170 are hard to defend. Second, I would remove the impact player rule because it reduces bowlers’ respect and is not used in international cricket,” said Mohammed Kaif.There has already been many criticisms around the impact player and how the batters have more freedom to take on the bowlers than before. The extra cushion that is presented to the batting unit is what is causing all the differences.

High-scoring games and evolving league dynamics spark debate on fairness for bowlers

The suggestion of increasing the ground size could be a debatable option considering the present approach of the batters but it could be a good option with the impact player rule. The impact player rule gives the batting side some extra margin for error and they capitalize on that freedom. The bowlers are struggling to get their lengths right as the moment they make the slightest errors, they get punished with a boundary. If the size of the boundaries increase, it would create a doubt in the minds of the batters to go for it or to be cautious. Despite the creativity behind the suggestion, there are some other factors that have to be looked into as well.

Not every bowler or bowling attack is being thrown under the bus by the current rules in the IPL as the quality bowlers are still making an impact in the game. If you look at Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a player that belongs to the old game and was excluded from the national side a couple of years back, is still making his impact in the league. He leads the purple cap leaderboard with 17 wickets to his name and his economy is just over 7. There are other young bowlers such as Prince Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Suyash Sharma who are able to do well, in spite of the impact player rule. The harsh truth is that the fittest will thrive and the pressure that the bowlers are being put under, will push them to be more clinical with their deliveries.

Not every batter is excelling because of the impact player rule as no matter whether they have an extra cushion or if there are shorter boundaries, they require a degree of technical skill to survive in the game. Both units of the side are being put under significant pressure and mostly good will come for the bowlers or batters under pressure. Franchise leagues across the world have certain rules that they bring in to increase the excitement of the game and it is experimented in franchise leagues as it cannot be done in international cricket.

The proposal of Mohammed Kaif could be debatable on certain grounds but there seems to be no incoming change for the league. As it stands, the impact player rule just adds a little bit more thrill to the game and the bowlers who are willing to adapt to the game, are able to thrive no matter the level of pressure or laws.