Andy Flower has offered a balanced view on the much-debated Impact Player rule, calling it a positive addition to the Indian Premier League even as opinions remain divided within the cricketing fraternity. Ahead of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL 2026 opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Flower described the rule as an “interesting innovation” that adds a new tactical layer to the game. While prominent names like Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma have criticised the rule for reducing the importance of all-round skills, Flower believes it enhances strategic decision-making. “I think it has been a good innovation, it’s interesting to be part of it. You’re making decisions on the impact player, and I think it’s interesting for the audience to debate what’s right and what’s wrong, so tactically it’s quite an interesting addition to the game,” Flower said. However, he also acknowledged that the rule comes with its own complications. According to Flower, one of the traditional challenges of cricket — balancing a playing XI — becomes slightly diluted. “I must say that one of the things I love about cricket is that when you select an 11, one of the challenges you have is balancing your 11 — the length of the batting order, balancing, perhaps, some guys that can’t field that well and it’s one of the things that makes selection a little bit tricky.” “The impact player rule hides that selection problem a little, so I think one of the great things about cricket is some of the debates around selection and when you select single-skilled players, you weaken another area of your game, the impact player can hide that, so there are pros and cons I think to it,” he added. From an RCB standpoint, team combination has been further complicated by the absence of key pacers. Josh Hazlewood, who was the franchise’s leading wicket-taker last season, has only just rejoined the squad after arriving in Bengaluru. “Hazlewood did arrive yesterday, he’s looking fit. I did comment to him that he looks even younger than I remember. So, he’s enjoyed some good downtime but he’s worked hard to get himself back up to full fitness, we’ve been liaising closely with Cricket Australia on his fitness. So, it’s great to have him in our dressing room and in the meetings.” “But he won’t be ready for tomorrow, he’s just got off the plane, but we’ll be monitoring his fitness very closely and looking forward to him making his entrance into the IPL,” Flower said. In the meantime, Flower expressed confidence in the available pace options stepping up in Hazlewood’s absence, especially with Yash Dayal also unavailable. “Yash is not with us unfortunately. So, we have Mangesh, Abhi and Rasik all competing for a place. We’re happy with recruiting Mangesh, a left-arm seamer to replace Yash. We’re also happy with Abhinandan’s progress, he’s bowled a lot more in matches just recently, played in the recent DYP competition.” “I think Rasik is a better bowler than he was last year, he’s obviously been working very hard and he shows a lot of qualities that could stand him in really good stead if he gets a chance in this tournament, so we’re happy with those three Indian seamers,” he added. As RCB gear up to begin their title defence, Flower’s comments reflect both the opportunities and challenges that come with modern T20 innovations.
