BCCI might come up with a brand, new concept of “power player” in T20 cricket. It will allow the teams to use a player who was not a part of their playing XI initially.
If the proposal gets a go-ahead in the meeting of the IPL governing council, it might be tried in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy before it eventually gets implemented in the IPL.
A similar concept was actually tried by ICC in ODI cricket in the past with the name of “super sub”, but it was withdrawn later as the ICC felt the rule was not helping the teams much.
According to a BCCI source quoted by Outlook India, there are some players who can change the whole complexion of the game in an over. For example – Andre Russell with the bat or Jasprit Bumrah with the ball.
There might be a scenario where Russell is not picked in the playing XI because he had a niggle, but now with 20 needed off the last over of the game, the captain feels Russell can get the team over the line.
Under the normal circumstances, the captain can’t use Russell because he didn’t pick him in the playing XI, but with the concept of the “power player” (if it gets introduced), the captains will have the opportunity to bring any player into the game at the last second.
“Imagine you need 20 runs off the last six balls and you have Andre Russell sitting in the dug-out as he wasn’t a hundred percent and wasn’t part of the original XI. But now, he can just walk in and go slam-bang and win you the game.”, the source said.
There is a meeting of the IPL governing council tomorrow where the proposal will come up for discussion and a final call will be taken.
