PBKS, KKR make blunders in naming possible Impact Players: Here's what IPL rules say
PBKS vs KKR, IPL 2023: The Impact Player can only be an Indian cricketer if the team has already named four overseas cricketers in their starting XI.
Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders both seem to have made an error by naming an overseas player in their list of five substitute players each for the IPL 2023 match no.2 in Mohali on Saturday. The five subs for KKR were Suyash, Bhaibhav Arora, N Jagadeesan, Venkatesh Iyer and David Wiese. Wiese is an overseas cricketer. Similarly, Matthew Short in the PBKS list of five subs is an overseas recruit.
The focus on five official substitutes has increased immensely this year after the introduction of the Impact Player rule. Previously, only the match referee kept an account of the five official players named as substitutes by the respective teams. Only the listed five players were allowed to take the field as substitute fielders during the course of the game but from this year, one of them can be used as an Impact Player too who can come in at any point during the game and bowl his full quota of overs and bat like a normal batter in the XI without any restrictions.
There is, however, one major catch. The Impact Player can only be an Indian cricketer if the team has already named four overseas cricketers in their starting XI.
"An overseas player can be used as an Impact Player only in a situation where a team nominates less than overseas players in the starting XI. Only an overseas player who is part of 5 substitutes named in the team sheet can be used as an Impact Player. If a team introduces an overseas player as an Impact Player in a match, in no circumstance can a 5th overseas player take the field," says IPL's Impact Player playing conditions for overseas players.
Both KKR - Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Tim Southee - and PBKS - Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Sikandar Raza, Sam Curran, and Nathan Elis - named four overseas players each in their XI. This means they can't use an overseas player as an Impact Player under any circumstances. According to IPL's playing conditions, an overseas player can't replace an overseas player as an Impact Player. If the franchise wants to replace one of their four overseas players in the XI with an Impact Player then that has to be an Indian cricketer. For example, Gujarat Titans subbed injured Kane Williamson with Sai Sudharsan (Impact Player) in the Friday IPL 2023 opener against CSK.
This obviously means that KKR cannot use David Wiese as an Impact Player. PBKS on the other hand, can't bring in Matthew Short.
The only possible reason behind both the teams naming an overseas player in the list of five subs can be their usage only as a substitute fielder. According to the IPL playing conditions, the subs named are not only a possible list of Impact Players but also a list of substitute fielders. Even then, Wiese and Short, who is a keeper, can only come on as a substitute fielder only in place of an overseas cricketer.
"A team may not have more than 4 Overseas players on the field of play at any time during any Match. Thus, if the team names the maximum 4 Overseas players in its starting XI, an Overseas player may only take the field as a substitute fielder if the player that he is replacing is an Overseas player. If the team names less than 4 Overseas players in its starting XI, Overseas players may only enter the field of play as substitute fielders to the extent that by doing so, they do not take the total number of Overseas players representing that team on the field to more than 4," says clause 1.2.6 in IPL playing conditions.
KKR and PBKS, therefore, would have been better off naming an Indian cricketer instead of Wiese and Short in their respective list of five subs.
