"You can be terrible..."- Jimmy Neesham slams impact player rule ahead of IPL 2026 auction
The veteran all-rounder of the New Zealand side, Jimmy Neesham, who hasn't feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a long time, has reacted to the impact player rule ahead of the IPL 2026 auction.
Since its introduction in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the ‘Impact Player’ rule hasn’t received much support from several veteran Indian players, including Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who claimed that this would hamper the future balance of the national side in the future shortest format of the game.
Now, the New Zealand all-rounder, James Neesham, has labelled the impact player rule as ‘stupid’ and ‘crap’ as he felt that the player won’t need a proper day of training if he has to play as an impact player in the contest. He also feels that it would send a bad message to the youngsters to avoid them working in the fielding department.
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It's a stupid rule. It doesn't work in the IPL. I don't know why we still have it, to be honest. It stops players from being able to prepare properly for the game. You obviously can't ever get a proper training day before the game if you think you're not playing because there's a chance that you could have to be roped into the XI at the last minute. So, you can't really develop your game. Neesham expressed on Times of India (TOI).
James Neesham not satisfied with IPL’s impact player rule
Neesham has registered for the IPL 2026 mini-auction at a base price of INR 1.5 crore. However, he didn’t find a place among the shortlisted players. The last time he was part of the league was in 2022, after which he was released by the Rajasthan Royals (RR). Since then, he hasn’t been picked by a franchise in the IPL.
“It disincentivizes players from working on parts of the game that they're not strong at. It means you can be a terrible fielder, and it doesn't matter. So, I think overall, it's a crap rule. Hopefully, it's gone soon.” Neesham added in the same conversation.
“Example, if you're a young cricketer coming through, why would you work on your fielding? Because if you're a crap fielder, you just don't field. You just go off the field. It's stupid.” The Kiwi all-rounder highlighted.
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