“I don’t like this rule.” That’s what Axar Patel said when asked about the impact player rule in the lead-up to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. These thoughts were echoed by Shubman Gill. A couple of days later, the same rule won Delhi Capitals (DC) their opening match against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Cricket Stadium.
After a masterful display by Lungi Ngidi, Axar, T Natarajan, and Kuldeep Yadav, Delhi needed to chase just 142. Yes, the surface wasn’t easy, with both fast bowlers and spinners getting assistance from the surface. It should’ve ideally been a walk in the park. KL Rahul, Pathum Nissanka, Axar, and Tristan Stubbs are all Test cricketers; they can handle the music.
LSG bowlers turn on the music
However, LSG fast bowlers had other things in mind. Mohammed Shami, who was making his LSG debut, sent Rahul packing on the first ball of the match. Granted, it wasn’t the best of deliveries, but it swung away from Rahul. LSG had started what they wanted.
Shami erred from the right line, and even Prince Yadav missed. But, more often than not, they were top-notch. Shami had Nitish Rana on the ropes, but the batter survived. In the fourth over, Rishabh Pant handed the ball to Mohsin Khan, who was bowling for the first time in over 15 months.
The left-arm pacer had an immediate impact. He got Nitish caught in the first slip. The pitch had help; he got movement and bounce. A wicket maiden to return to competitive cricket. Prince was brought from the other end. The fast bowler from Delhi was getting the ball to move.
Prince took the ball away from Pathum Nissanka, who was etching to score. He went for the short-arm jab and skied it. LSG were on top, 25/3 in 4.3 overs. But Prince wasn’t done. He bowled the same ball, a perfect nut, but it came into the left-handed batter in Axar.
It hit the pad and crashed into the middle stump. 30/4 in just 5 overs. Pant remained aggressive and continued with Mohsin. Even after the powerplay, he persisted with Shami and bowled him out in the 9th over. Delhi knew the help would die down, and that’s what happened.
Sameer Rizvi’s day out
Sameer Rizvi came into the middle when the score was 20/2 in 3.3 overs. Some didn’t understand why Karun Nair wasn’t brought in as the impact sub. Perhaps Delhi thought Rizvi, being from Uttar Pradesh himself, knew the pitch well. With wickets falling from the other end, Rizvi had to consolidate. One more wicket, and David Miller would’ve come in.
He didn’t hit a boundary until his 14th ball. The ball was doing enough, and he knew that the priority was not losing another wicket. He was 13 (16) after the 9th over. But after that, Rizvi became a different batter. The 22-year-old took Shahbaz Ahmed down, hitting 3 fours in the 10th over.
For the next 3 overs, Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs just rotated the strike. Now, the pitch was getting good to bat on. Delhi was under the pump. They needed just 49 runs from 42 balls. Nothing was working, so Pant gave the ball to Aiden Markram. Rizvi cashed in, hitting 2 boundaries to bring up his second IPL fifty.
Now, he was even more confident. He took Mohsin down in the 16th over; the pacer had gone for just 6 runs in his 3 overs prior. The 22-year-old smashed him for 13 runs in his last over. With a six over midwicket, Rizvi ended the match with 17 balls to spare and 6 wickets in hand. A masterful knock, and easily his best knock in the IPL and for Delhi.
Cricket
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