BCCI Introduces Impact Player Rule in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

On Friday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took two major decisions during its highest-level meeting. The first decision was regarding the Asian Games, where it was decided that for the first time, India will send its men’s and women’s cricket teams to participate in the Asian Games, which will be held in the city of Hangzhou, China, starting from 28th September this year.

On the other hand, in domestic cricket, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament will also implement the Impact Player rule, similar to the Indian Premier League (IPL).

This will be the third time cricket will feature in the Asian Games. Previously, cricket events were held in Guangzhou, China in 2010 and Incheon, South Korea. In 2010, Bangladesh won the gold medal in the men’s category, while Pakistan emerged as champions in the women’s category. In 2014, Sri Lanka’s men’s team and Pakistan’s women’s team were crowned champions.

The participating teams in the 2010 Asian Games men’s cricket event were Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Nepal, and the Maldives. In the women’s event, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Japan, China, Nepal, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Malaysia competed.

These were the updates from the BCCI meeting held on Friday.

The women’s cricket team will participate in a multi-sports event for the second time along with the men’s team at the Asian Games. The Indian women’s team will be part of a multi-sport event for the second time. Previously, the women’s team participated in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, which is not an ICC or ACC event.

Cricket was not included in the 2018 Asian Games. The Asian Games are held every four years, and cricket was not included during the 2018 edition. In 2022, the Asian Games were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and now they will be held in 2023, where cricket will be included once again.

This year, the IPL will have a rule similar to the Impact Player rule. The Impact Player rule will also be implemented in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The Impact Player rule was previously introduced in the previous season of the Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where a replacement player could be brought in before the start of the 14th over, and the toss was held before naming the replacement player.

However, there will be changes in the upcoming season. Similar to the IPL, teams will be allowed to name four Impact Players along with their playing XI before the toss. One of these players can be utilized. As per the rules, both teams are given the liberty to use one Impact Player in the match.