Impact Players, DRS for wides and no-ballsMany firsts in thrilling IPL 2023 opener

By Alan Jose John The IPL 2023 season started off with a bang as Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings served up a thriller for the fans on Friday, 31st March in Ahmedabad. However, the game also kickstarted a new era in the IPL with the Impact Player rule and DRS reviews for no-balls and wides set to become a norm in the tournament.

There was a whole set of rule changes that were introduced before the start of the new campaign, with the Impact Player rule and the DRS reviews for extras being at the forefront.

Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni presented their views on the Impact Player rule with the GT skipper saying he was unsure about the team combination before the start of the match. Following the win on Friday, Pandya said that the new rule did make his job a bit more difficult on the day.

For Dhoni, he felt that the Impact Player was a luxury for the team in the tournament. During the match, we saw both teams bring in players from the substitutes list during the Gujarat Titans chase.

Tushar Deshpande came in for Ambati Rayudu to become the first Impact Player in the tournament’s history, but his night wasn’t a great one. Deshpande conceded 51 runs in 3.2 overs while picking up one wicket.

He was welcomed with a special signal from the umpire in what looked like a substitution you would see in football. GT were forced into a change on the day as Kane Williamson was injured while fielding in the first innings. Sai Sudarshan came in as the Impact Player and formed a crucial partnership with Shubman Gill to help the defending champions ultimately chase down the target of 179.

The DRS reviews weren’t there in the CSK innings but it was called upon during the GT run chase. First, Gill asked for a review to see if Hangargekar had bowled a second bouncer in the over and Vijay Shankar went for a review to see a delivery was wide. Both the reviews were unsuccessful in the end, but we will surely see teams getting it right in the coming days and the rule will be a success like it was in the recently-concluded WPL 2023.

These changes and new rules have certainly increased the interest in the game if the first day of IPL 2023 is anything to go by. While the Impact players, no pun intended, had moderate success in terms of impact, the coming matches could see some fantastic performances.