Explained: How have Impact Player - Bowlers fared in IPL 2023?

Indian Premier League (IPL) introduced a new rule this season - Impact Player, which allowed teams to use 12 players in a game instead of original 11. The teams could announce their teams after the toss and name four substitutes as well. One of those four players is then allowed to replace one player from the playing 11 to give both sides further edge in the contest.

Impact Player rule: How teams make it work

In a match, the team batting first announces the Impact Player to bring in a bowler while defending the total and in turn, a batsman who was in the initial Playing XI, goes out. Similarly, the team bowling second brings in a batsman by replacing a bowler with least batting capabilities.

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The rule gives us two sets of Impact Players to analyse: Ones who came in as batsmen and others as bowlers.

Below is the analysis of the Impact Player - Bowlers.

Teams have used different bowlers at different stages but the majority of impact players that have been used are fast/medium fast bowlers, bowling 26 out of 45 times while the spinners only got to bowl 19 times whenever a bowler has been used as an Impact Player.

As for the bowlers who have been replaced by an Impact Player - Batsman are also majorly fast or medium fast.

Also Read:Explained: How have Impact Player - Batsmen fared in IPL 2023?

How have Impact Player - Bowlers fared in IPL 2023?

In the first 50 matches of the IPL 2023, teams have decided to use a bowler as an Impact Player 45 times (2nd innings of the match) and the players who have come in have taken 39 wickets at a strike rate of 21.90 so far. On the other hand, the bowlers (1st innings) who made way for the impact players have taken 32 wickets in 45 innings at a strike rate of 27.

Clearly, the bowlers have made their impact felt in the IPL so far. Also, it is not only the wickets or strike rate which shows that Impact Player - Bowlers have performed better than the bowlers who were already in Playing XI, but the number of times they have taken two-wicket and three-wicket haul, economy rate and part played in winning cause as well.

The Impact Player - Bowlers have taken two-wicket hauls eight times and a three-wicket hauls two times. The teams have managed to win 50 per cent of the games when an Impact Player takes two wickets in a match, that is, four times out of eight while the same record stands at 100 per cent when a three-wicket haul is taken by an Impact Player - Bowler.

And, the bowlers who have been replaced by Impact Players have taken two-wicket hauls seven times and zero three-wicket haul. Here, the teams have managed to win just two out of seven times when such a bowler takes a two-wicket haul.

The economy rate of the Impact Player - Bowlers and the bowlers replaced by an Impact Player is almost similar at 9.21 and 9.23, respectively.

During the instances when the Impact Player - Bowler has not been able to take a single wicket - 17 out 45 times - the teams have actually won more - nine times - compared to the time they have lost - eight.

The bowler who made way for the Impact Players have gone wicketless 20 times in 45 innings and the teams have 50-50 win-loss record whenever that has happened.

Which is better as an Impact Player - Bowler: Spinner or Fast/Medium Fast Bowler?

The debate around using a bowler as an Impact Player has one more side to it - whether to use a fast bowler or a spinner? Let's have a look at the numbers to understand it better.

Out of the 45 times an Impact Player - Bowler has been used, teams have gone for a spinner 19 times and a fast bowler 26 times. Talking about the wins, the fast bowlers have managed to help their team win 19 times out 26 while losing just seven matches.

As for the spinners, they have helped in the winning cause only nine out 19 times when played as an Impact Player and have lost 10 games.

Getting into the stats, fast bowler have taken 24 wickets at a strike rate of 18 and an economy rate of 10.41 in 26 games, giving away 772 runs in 74.2 overs. The spinners, on the other hand, have taken only 15 wickets at a strike rate of 27 and an economy rate of 7.91 in 19 games, giving 540 runs in 68.2 overs.

It is clear that fast bowlers have struck quicker than the spinners, but the slow bowlers have given much less runs than their fast bowling counterparts when used an Impact Player.

The fast bowling Impact Player - Bowlers also have edge in taking two-wicket hauls in a winning cause on the spinners as they have managed the feat thrice, compared to the spinners who have done it only once.

Conclusion

Both fast bowlers and spinners come with their own strength and weakness. While the decision to pick one of them depends on factors like pitch, dew and other team's playing XI, the teams have preferred a fast bowling Impact Player more than a spinner.

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