Sourav Ganguly, a former Indian captain and the director of cricket for the Delhi Capitals, favors keeping the impact player rule in place for the Indian Premier League but would rather have teams decide on their own during toss.
The recent IPL season which saw 250 runs being scored more than eight times has made the impact-player rule gain much attention.
Meanwhile, Ganguly added that he hoped to push the boundaries ever further with future editions of IPL.
“I like this rule of impact player. My only thing with IPL is that I just want little bigger grounds in it. The fences should go a little behind,” said Ganguly during Media briefing at International Procurement and Supply Chain Conference organized by Blue Ocean Corporation in Mumbai.
“It’s an excellent tournament. With impact player you can only choose before flip so it’s kind of skill there.
“So have your impact player before because that will require a lot of skill and game plan. But, I am all for the impact player,” said the former India skipper.
Ganguly stood up for Prithvi Shaw who had a dismal IPL season this year saying he is still young and adjusting to shorter formats of cricket.
“Prithvi Shaw is just 23 years old boy. He is still learning how to play T20 format. He is a real good talent and he’ll get better. Sometimes we expect too much too quickly from everyone, but I think Prithvi will do well with his skills,” he added.
According to Ganguly, Rishabh Pant had returned to his previous form as batman-wicketkeeper after recovering from his car crash in 2022.
“He was superb for us (DC) in the IPL. I was so happy to see the way he came back because I have always said that he is a special player,” revealed Ganguly.
“Even before I have mentioned about him being exceptional as well; you don’t want such talent to be lost for such disastrous reasons (accident). He has really worked hard to get back to where he is and he is the Rishabh Pant of old.”
Ganguly also hoped that India’s wicketkeeper-batter, Wriddhiman Saha, would be selected by the Bengal selectors as he looks to return home from Tripura.
“He wants to play for Bengal and rightfully so. He is a Bengal boy,” said Ganguly.
“He went away to Tripura because he was playing there as a professional for two years. He has finished that and he wants to be in Bengal. I am sure the selectors will pick him for Bengal.
“I am not involved in Bengal cricket at the moment. When I finished my BCCI stint I did not fight for president ship; I just took some time off. They will decide whatever they think is right,” he added.
