Five of the six highest team totals in IPL history have occurred in the past month, while there have already been six scores of 240+ this year, which had previously never happened multiple times during a season.

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The scoring rate of 9.42 is the highest for an IPL season by a substantial margin, while last week’s contest between the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore broke the T20 aggregate world record, with 549 runs compiled across 40 overs.

Flat pitches and short boundaries are partly responsible for the sudden influx of runs, but the IPL’s impact player has been identified as the true culprit.

Highest scoring rate in an IPL season

9.42 — 2024

8.99 — 2023

8.64 — 2018

8.54 — 2022

8.41 — 2019

The impact player rule, introduced to the IPL last year, allows teams to replace a member of its starting XI with a substitute at any point in the match. For example, teams can replace one of their bowlers with an additional batter during a run chase, or vice versa if they bat first.

The gimmick was designed for fan engagement, adding another tactical element to IPL matches while rewarding squad depth. However, scoring rates have skyrocketed following the introduction of the impact player rules, nullifying team balance and essentially making all-rounders obsolete.

Top-order batters have been given a licence to go harder earlier, resulting in record-breaking feats throughout the tournament, most notably last week’s 125-run Powerplay from Hyderabad openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma.

Highest team scores in IPL history

3-287 — SRH vs v RCB, 2024

3-277 — SRH vs MI, 2024

7-272 — KKR vs DC, 2024

7-266 — SRH vs DC, 2024

5-263 — RCB vs PW, 2013

Casual cricket fans will enjoy watching more sixes sail over the boundary rope, but the impact player has created headaches for players and coaches across the tournament.

Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting confessed the rule was “a bit of a nightmare”, but stopped short of calling for it to be scrapped.

“It’d be really interesting to hear what the public think about it. If the everyday viewer really likes it and thinks it’s good, then it can continue,” Ponting told ESPNcricinfolast week.

“At the end of the day, we’ve got to think about the product that’s going there and what everyone’s watching as well.

“From a player’s and a coach’s point of view, the game would be much easier if you just pick 11, just pick your best 11 and put the 11 on the park and go and play.

“I was getting messages last night saying what a crazy game of cricket, what an unbelievable game of cricket. So if the impact player is making it a better spectacle, then it should stay.”

Indian captain Rohit Sharma believes the impact player has been detrimental to the IPL’s all-rounders, who are no longer necessary for restoring team balance.

“I’m not a big fan of impact player. You are taking out so much from the game just to make little entertainment,” Sharma told the Club Prairie Fire podcast last week.

“Guys like Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube are not getting to bowl, which, for (Indian cricket) is not a good thing.”

Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bengaluru quick Mohammed Siraj voiced his frustration over the weekend, pleading with a smile: “Please remove this impact sub thing.

“The wickets are already flat and there’s nothing for the bowlers in it. Previously, it used to be slow at times, but the batters now come out swinging at absolutely everything.”

The Big Bash League introduced a similar rule change, the X-factor, ahead of the 2020/21 season, but it was scrapped a couple of years later.

Originally published as IPL’s record-breaking ‘nightmare’ explained as controversial rule sparks debate