The upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to kick off from March 28. So far, the schedule of only first 20 matches has been released due to state elections.
Ahead of the league, Delhi Capitals` (DC) captain Axar Patel said that he doesn`t like the `Impact Player` rule. He explained that earlier teams used to pick an all-rounder to do the job, but since the inception of the rule, the management looks to pick a particular batsman or bowler.
“I don`t like this rule as I am all rounder myself (laughs). Earlier we used to pick all-rounder for this role (batting and bowling). Now team management goes with a particular batter or bowler, they say why do we need an all-rounder?,” he said.
“Being an all-rounder myself I don`t like it but at the same time rules are rules. We have to follow them. But personally I don`t like it,” he added.
In the previous edition, the Gujarat-born cricketer bowled only 204 balls compared to the earlier season, in which he bowled 264 balls. The cricketer then revealed that he sustained a cut in his spinning finger, following which he didn`t bowl much.
“I did not bowl a lot. It wasn`t because of Impact Player. After the Champions Trophy, my spinning finger got cut. After that it got worse because of the seam of the ball. Later, it developed into a deep cut, I was not able to apply pressure and rotation on the ball. That is why I was bowling only when required and nursing my finger. After seven games, it became better and I bowled frequently,” explained Patel.
DC will begin the IPL 2026 campaign by playing their first match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 1 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium B Ground in Lucknow.
IPL 2026, Lucknow Super Giants vs Delhi Capitals: Full Squads
Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Mohammed Shami, Shahbaz Ahmed, Anrich Nortje, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Aiden Markram, Avesh Khan, Wanindu Hasaranga, Himmar Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), Josh Inglis (WK), M Siddharth, Moshin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Arjun Tendulkar, Akash Singh, Abdul Samad, Arshin Kulkarni, Naman Tiwari, Akshat Raghuvanshi, Mayank Yadav, M Choudhary (WK), Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi.
Delhi Capitals: David Miller, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, KL Rahul (WK), Karun Nair, Axar Patel (C), Ben Duckett (WK), Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Rana, Kyle Jamieson, Lungi Ngidi, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Pathum Nissanka, Ajay Mandal, Prithvi Shaw, Ashutosh Sharma, Auqib Nabi, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, Abhishek Porel (WK), Vipraj Nigam, Tripurana Vijay, Sahil Parakh, Madhav Tiwari.
(With PTI Inputs)
