IPL Impact Player rule: how it works & what it changed
The Impact Player rule came into the IPL in 2023, and the league's 2025-27 player regulations keep it for every season of the cycle, so it applies in IPL 2027. Each team can replace one member of its XI during a match with one of five named substitutes.
How the rule works
- Each team names its XI and five substitutes at the toss.
- One of those five can come on as the Impact Player at the start of an innings, at the end of an over, at the fall of a wicket or when a batter retires.
- The player he replaces takes no further part in the match.
- The Impact Player can bat and can bowl a full quota of four overs. Only eleven players can bat for a side.
- If the XI already has four overseas players, the Impact Player must be Indian. An overseas substitute can come on only when the XI has fewer than four overseas players and he is one of the five named.
- The Impact Player is a playing member, so he earns the ₹7.5 lakh match fee.
What the rule has done to scoring
In 2022, the last season without the rule, the average first-innings score in matches not shortened by rain was 171.1. It rose to 183.0 in 2023 and 195.8 in 2026. Totals of 200 or more went from 18 in 2022 to 37 in 2023 and 65 in 2026, with 74 matches in each of those seasons. Sixes per match climbed from 14.4 to 19.3.
| Season | Impact Player | Matches | Avg 1st-inns score | 200+ totals | Sixes | Sixes per match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | No | 60 | 172.1 | 15 | 872 | 14.5 |
| 2019 | No | 60 | 168.5 | 11 | 784 | 13.1 |
| 2020 | No | 60 | 169.5 | 13 | 735 | 12.2 |
| 2021 | No | 60 | 159.3 | 9 | 687 | 11.4 |
| 2022 | No | 74 | 171.1 | 18 | 1,062 | 14.4 |
| 2023 | Yes | 74 | 183.0 | 37 | 1,124 | 15.2 |
| 2024 | Yes | 71 | 190.1 | 41 | 1,261 | 17.8 |
| 2025 | Yes | 74 | 192.3 | 52 | 1,301 | 17.6 |
| 2026 | Yes | 74 | 195.8 | 65 | 1,426 | 19.3 |
With an extra batter in hand, teams attack earlier. Since 2023 the average powerplay score is 56.9, against 48.4 across all seasons, and the last five overs of a first innings that runs the full 20 overs produce 56.6 runs on average, against 52.6. Both figures leave out matches shortened by rain.
| Period | Matches | Avg 1st-inns score | Powerplay avg | Overs 16-20 avg (1st inns) | Chasing wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All seasons, 2008-2026 | 1,243 | 169.6 | 48.4 | 52.6 | 54% |
| Impact Player seasons, 2023-2026 | 293 | 190.3 | 56.9 | 56.6 | 52% |
It has not swung results towards chasing
Since 2023, chasing sides have won 151 of 288 decided games (52%). Across every IPL season the share is 54%. Chasing has not become easier since the rule arrived.
Ground by ground numbers for the Impact Player seasons are on each IPL venue page, and season records are under IPL records.