Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya has advised that the ‘Impact Player’ rule can result in conditions the place sure bowlers are underutilised. Defending champions GT kicked off their Indian Premier League title protection by beating Chennai Super Kings within the match opener on Friday. After being put into bat, CSK posted a complete of 178/7, which GT chased down with 5 wickets and 4 balls to spare. Speaking after the match, Hardik mentioned that the ‘Impact Player’ rule has really made issues tough for captains on the sphere.

“To be very honest, having this impact rule makes my job quite difficult because when you have too many options, you have to pick the right option, and I think because of this reason, someone will bowl less. I had to just pick and kind of back [my instinct], where I felt that going hard lengths was the plan for me, and it kind of worked, so yeah, some of the bowlers came late but they did the job for us,” Hardik mentioned through the post-match presentation ceremony.

Chasing 179 for victory, Gujarat rode on Shubman Gill‘s 36-ball 63 to attain their goal with 4 balls to spare on the world’s greatest cricket stadium and their homeground.

The sixteenth version of the money-spinning T20 match started with a glitzy opening ceremony and fireworks at a floor which has an official capability of 132,000.

Earlier, CSK opener Ruturaj Gaikwad silenced the house followers with a flurry of boundaries in his 92 off 50 balls.

During the match, CSK’s Tushar Deshpande created historical past by turning into the primary ‘Impact Player’ within the historical past of IPL.

For GT, Sai Sudharsan additionally changed Kane Williamson underneath the brand new “impact player” rule.

Gujarat pulled off a fairytale title win of their debut season final yr in entrance of a report crowd of 101,566 on the similar venue.

(With AFP Inputs)