DC Axar Patel (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma) Ahead of the 2026 Indian Premier League season, Axar Patel expressed his displeasure with the Impact Player rule and admitted that he was not personally a fan of the regulation. The Delhi Capitals captain believes the rule will reduce the value of all-rounders in the tournament, which begins on March 28.The Impact Player rule, introduced in 2023, allows teams to bring in a special-purpose batsman or pitcher as a substitute during a game. However, Axar believes that it has changed the team combinations significantly. “Honestly, I don’t like this rule because I’m an all-rounder. Earlier you picked an all-rounder to bat and bowl.
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Axar Patel questions Impact Player rule: ‘All-rounders lose value’“But because of this rule, the team management decides on a particular batsman or bowler and thinks, “Why do we need an all-rounder?” Being an all-rounder, I don’t like this rule. Rules are rules and they have to be followed. But from a personal point of view, I don’t like the rule,” he said at a preseason press conference.Delhi Capitals will begin their IPL 2026 campaign against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on April 1. This is not the first time Axar has raised concerns about the rule. In 2024, while serving as vice-captain, he mentioned that the Impact Player rule affected his batting position.Despite maintaining a career IPL economy of 7.3, Axar endured a difficult bowling season in 2025, his least efficient performance since joining Delhi in 2019. He conceded 8.5 runs per over and managed just five wickets in 11 innings. However, he clarified that his trouble was due to the finger injury he sustained during India’s successful Champions Trophy 2025 campaign and not the Impact Player rule.“Champions Trophy 2025 was just before IPL. During CT, my spinner got cut: when I was bowling, it got cut more and more because of the seam of the ball. It turned into a deep cut. Because of that, I couldn’t put pressure and spin on the ball.”“Because of that, I bowled less and thought of bowling only where needed and saved my finger. After seven matches, when my finger healed, I resumed bowling. It wasn’t because of the Impact Player rule,” he explained.While his bowling numbers dipped, Axar made up for it with the bat and enjoyed one of his most productive IPL seasons in 2025. He scored 263 runs in 11 innings at a success rate of 158, including four scores above 30, and maintained a success rate of 159 in the middle overs to give Delhi momentum.
