Dinesh Karthik Backs Keeping Impact Player Rule for IPL 2027: 'Scrapping It Mid-Cycle Doesn't Make Sense'

Dinesh Karthik has waded into one of the Indian Premier League's most divisive debates, calling for the Impact Player rule to stay in place through the 2027 season before any decision is taken on its future.

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru batting coach and mentor acknowledged the rule's shortcomings but argued that removing it before the current cycle ends would punish franchises that assembled their squads with an extra player in mind.

'It started losing the charm'

Speaking to Cricbuzz, the former India wicketkeeper-batter traced the rule's arc from a crowd-pleasing innovation to a fading gimmick.

"When it first came on (Impact Player rule), it was very good because there were high-scoring games and there were a lot of teams that were almost chasing it down. But strangely, this last season, there were not too many close games," Karthik said.

"It just felt like one team scored a lot, and another team ended up chasing it down. And if you look at how the impact player rule has impacted the IPL, it was quite positive at the start. But slowly but steadily, it started losing the charm and the reason why it was there."

He was blunt about what the rule has cost Indian cricket, pointing to the pipeline of genuine all-rounders.

"It helped make the game more high-scoring than what it was. But it definitely decreased the chances of India as a cricketing country producing all-rounders," he said.

Why the rule should survive until 2027

Karthik's central argument is about fairness to the teams. Squads for the ongoing cycle were recruited, he said, on the understanding that a twelfth player would take the field.

"But what I wouldn't want is it to be scrapped for this season because teams have been picked with having an impact player in mind. So it makes a lot of sense," he said.

"When you pick a team, you're picking a team based on 12 players that you're going to play. Now suddenly if you make it 11, there could be a team which is obviously not as strong as a 12 but much better as an 11, and it is an unfair advantage, and it's something that they could do away with after the end of this season.

"But in general, I do feel it was quite good at the start, but right now it's losing the relevance and importance that it probably provided for the fans and for the players as well."

'Bring a rule at the start of a cycle, end it at the end'

Karthik made the case for consistency in the tournament's playing conditions, insisting that any rule change should be introduced and retired at the same point on the calendar.

"But I just feel that, as a rule, whatever new rule you want to bring in, you need to bring it in at the start of a cycle and do away with it at the end of a cycle if you don't want to (continue). First of all, this impact player rule was brought in in between and then to do away with it in the middle of one, I don't think makes sense. That's all I would say," he added.

His intervention comes as the rule's future sits firmly on the agenda ahead of the 2027 season. IPL chairman Arun Dhumal had already confirmed in a September 2026 interview that the league was pushing to bring the 2027 player auction back to India, with the Impact Player rule also under fresh scrutiny.