Bowlers Are More Affected by the Impact Player Rule Than All-Rounders: Shahbaz Ahmed

As left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed of Sunrisers Hyderabad stated on Friday, "The much-discussed 'Impact Player' rule has proven to be a bigger nightmare for bowlers compared to the all-rounders,' contrary to popular opinion." Shahbaz has participated in 12 games this season and amassed 186 runs with a strike rate of 138 or higher. However, despite his apparent left-arm spin ability, which has yielded only three wickets at a subpar economy rate of 10.60, his main asset hasn't been particularly productive.

"Now every team has in total 9 batters, an all-rounder, and eight batters. Also, the teams look for players, who can strike big from ball one and carry on the momentum till the end. The 'Impact Player' rule has affected bowlers more than all-rounders because this gives batters the cushion to play freely," Shahbaz noted in PTI videos. "The teams didn't know much about how to use it (Impact Player) last season. The all-rounders have a reduced role, which means they are getting a lesser chance to bowl, unlike earlier times when they used to bowl four overs. A lot of all-rounders are facing this. now they get to bowl one or two overs, this is true, this is visible to everyone, but I think, the batters who used to anchor games, have also gone down significantly."

Cummins established a pressure-free atmosphere

The Bengal all-rounder was full of compliments for captain Pat Cummins, who has played a key role in preventing tension in the SRH locker room, which has undoubtedly improved the team's performance on the field. With 15 points, SRH has already advanced to the final four stages.

"If I talk about myself whenever Pat throws the ball to me, he always backs me. This sort of helps me to soak in pressure well and even if the ball goes to the boundary, he doesn't say anything and keeps motivating all bowlers.”

"He and the coach (Daniel Vettori) have created such an environment that no player in the camp ever feels that there's any sort of pressure. The players play freely, we enjoy playing under his captaincy and that is what helped us to perform well. "

Unknown information about Shahbaz is that every season, the great Virat Kohli gives him one of his bats, "Virat's bat is by far the best in terms of quality. His bat has the right balance and the ping is fabulous. In every IPL season, he has gifted me a willow. His bat holds high value for me."