'Extra batter making the game more one-dimensional' - Gill on impact sub rule

Just days after Axar Patel expressed his dislike for the Impact Player rule, Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill echoed those thoughts and reckoned that having an extra batter 'takes the skill out of the game'.

"Personally for me, I don't think there should be Impact player," Gill said in a press conference on Thursday.

The Impact Sub has been in the IPL since the 2023 edition after it was tested in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy in 2022. While it was then done away with in the domestic competition from the 2024 season, BCCI chose to retain it in the IPL even amidst debate about its impact on tipping the scales heavily in the batters' favour.

The rule has enabled teams to extend their batting line-ups, and consequently been tougher on bowling attacks. Gill went to the extent of saying that the rule was making the sport 'one-dimensional'.

"Cricket in general is a 11-player game... adding an extra batsman, I think it takes the skill out of the game. With that one extra player, it is making the game more one dimensional. Chasing 180 or 160 on a challenging wicket is for me more exciting than chasing 220 on a flat track."

With this rule further emboldening batters in this format, there have been expectations of team totals breaching the 300-mark. Though it hasn't happened yet in this tournament, there has been anticipation for it in the last couple seasons. The GT captain chose to look away from such targets, training his focus on trying to secure as many wins as possible for his team.

"At the end of the day, you have to score more runs than the other team. Whether it's by four runs or 150-200 runs, the goal is to win. We are not chasing the glory of scoring 300-350 in a single match. We want to be a team that consistently scores big runs and achieves the par target for that wicket," Gill said.

"We want to win matches in different conditions. We don't want to be a team that performs only on good wickets," he added.

Gill, who guided his team to the playoffs last year, has put the disappointment of not featuring in the T20 World Cup behind him and is looking forward to do much of what he usually does in the IPL: score big runs. Gill has been one of the most consistent batters in this decade of the tournament, scoring 440, 478, 483, 890, 426 and 650 since the 2020 edition. Expectedly, the GT captain reckoned he had nothing to prove in this format.

"I think if you look at the past three or four seasons, I think I have the most runs in the IPL. So I don't think I have anything to prove in this season particularly," Gill said. "And the four years that I have played for this team, I think we have done decently well as a team. And I think I have done decently well as a batsman.

"So I don't think I need to prove to anyone my worth. I think I need to do what I have been doing for the past four years. And as a team, we need to be consistent, which I think we have been. And if we continue doing that sooner or later, I think we will win that trophy once more."

The 2022 champions will begin their 2026 campaign against Punjab Kings in Mullanpur on March 31.

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