Gujarat Titans coach Ashish Nehra believes that there is a long way to go before 200+ scores become the norm in IPL. Ever since the start of IPL 2025, there has been a lot of chatter on the impact player rule and how the game has become more favouring towards the batters. Nehra merely points out that the impact player rule existed in the previous season as well, while noting that success via that method is subject to terms and conditions.
GT coach rules out impact player rule ruining IPL
Speaking on JioHotstar’s show “Aave De”, Nehra said that the impact player could come of good use to the team only when the pitch conditions supported batting. He reckoned that despite teams registering scores of above 220+ on occasions, it was still a long way before it becomes the norm in IPL.
“No, I don’t think so. You might see scores of 225, 230, 250, or even 260 occasionally, but it’s still a long way off from becoming the norm. The impact player rule was in place in 2023 as well. I understand that having an extra batsman allows teams to play more aggressively, but the pitch conditions also need to support that,” Nehra said.
He further claimed that teams will not benefit from the impact player rule if they lose six-seven wickets within the first 12 overs. Nehra went on to cite IPL 2024’s average score to point out that it isn’t even 200.
The GT coach went on to cite an example from Champions Trophy to justify his point.
“Take the Champions Trophy final as an example. We had around 90 runs in the 15th over but still chased down 250 in the last over because the pitch was different. Where there’s dew or flat wickets, scoring 250 consistently isn’t easy. When people talk about 250 or even 300, they forget that teams also get bowled out for 125,” Nehra added.
