Ahead of the start of the Indian Premier League 2026 season, Axar Patel Expressed his dissatisfaction with the impact player rule, admitting that he personally doesn’t like the rule. The Delhi Capitals skipper feels that this rule reduces the value of the all-rounder in the tournament, which begins on March 28.Impact player rules, introduced in 2023, allow teams to bring in specialist batsmen or bowlers as substitutes during games. However, Axar believes this changes the team composition significantly. “Honestly, I don’t like this rule because I am an all-rounder. Earlier, you would pick an all-rounder to bat and bowl.
“But because of this rule, team management picks a particular batsman or bowler and thinks ‘Why do we need an all-rounder?’ Because I am an all-rounder, I don’t like this rule. At the same time, rules are rules and we need to follow them. But from a personal point of view, I don’t like this rule,” he said at the pre-season press conference.Delhi Capitals will begin their IPL 2026 campaign against Lucknow Supergiants on April 1 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium. This isn’t the first time Axar has expressed concerns about the rule. Back in 2024, when he was vice-captain, he had mentioned that the Impact Player rule affected his batting position.Although Axar has a career IPL economy rate of 7.3, he endured a tough bowling season in 2025, his least efficient season since joining Delhi in 2019. He conceded 8.5 runs per over and managed just 5 wickets in 11 innings. However, he clarified that his struggles were due to a finger injury sustained during India’s successful hosting of 2025. championship trophy Activities, not influence player rules.“The 2025 Champions Trophy is just before the IPL. During CT, I got a cut on my spin finger: while I was bowling, it kept getting further cut due to the seam of the ball. It became a deep wound. Therefore, I can’t put pressure and spin on the ball.“So, I bowled less and just bowled where needed and saved my fingers. After seven games, when my fingers healed, I resumed bowling. It was not because of the impact player rule,” he explained.While his bowling numbers dropped, Axar made up for it with the bat, enjoying one of his most productive IPL seasons in 2025. He scored 263 runs in 11 innings with a strike rate of 158, including four scores of 30-plus, and maintained a strike rate of 159 in the middle overs to power Delhi.
