Hritik Shokeen creates history; becomes first Impact player in Indian Cricket
Hritik Shokeen is once again in this news. This time not for his performance on the field, but for becoming the first “Impact Player” in Indian cricket.
He achieved this feat in the ongoing Syeed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The event took place during the encounter between Delhi and Manipur.
Hritik Shokeen becomes first Impact player
Shokeen, an off spinner, was brought on to the field at the start of second inning. He replaced batter Hiten Dalal, who made an immense contribution with bat in hand. Dalal scored 47 off 27 balls.
Shokeen on the other hand indeed turned out to be an impact player for Delhi. He picked up 2 wickets in his 3 overs and gave away only 13 runs. Hence, helping Delhi secure a victory by the margin of 71 runs.
Even Manipur made use of the impact player rule. They replaced their pace bowler Bishworjit Konthoujam who picked 2 wickets in his 4 overs, with batter Ahmed Shah.
Elsewhere, among other notable substitutions on the opening day, Tamil Nadu opener Hari Nishaanth replaced fast bowler T Natarajan in their game against Chhattisgarh, while Karnataka’s legspinning allrounder Shreyas Gopal came in for opener Devdutt Padikkal in their tournament opener against Maharashtra.
Impact Player rule in Cricket
The impact player rule was first introduced in cricket in Big Bash League of Australia. The rule is very similar to that of football where players are substituted.
Cricket already had a rule for concussion substitution introduced some years ago. This new Impact player rule however is different than that as it allows substitution to take place without any injury.
For now, the rule is being tested on the pilot basis in Indian domestic circuits. And if everything goes well, we might see it being implemented on IPL level as well.
