Following the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 mini-auction in Abu Dhabi, reportedly all the ten franchises have finalised their best possible squads for the upcoming season. The much-awaited IPL 2026 kicks-off on March 26. The teams are already plotting how to use their “12th Man” – the Impact Player in the best possible manner to get the desired results.
Amidst making its entry to the fourth season, the impact player rule has evolved from a novelty to a critical tactical weapon. The teams are moving away from “bits-and-pieces” substitutions to “Specialist Impact Players”.The best Impact Player options for RCB, CSK, MI, KKR and other teams for IPL 2026 season:
Avinash Kumar |
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Khaleel Ahmed, Rahul Chahar, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary are the ideal Impact Player options for five-times champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the upcoming IPL 2026 season. Interestingly, in the recent auction and trading window, CSK made major moves – acquiring Sanju Samson via trade from Rajasthan Royals, buying Kartik Sharma, a young wicketkeeper for a whopping Rs 14.20 crore – that reduces the dependency on MS Dhoni. With Samson likely keeping wickets, Dhoni is free to play purely as a batter. The Impact Player rule is perfect for this, allowing him to sit out the fielding innings (protecting his dodgy knees) and come in solely to bat in the final few overs.
*Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
Suyash Sharma, Yash Dayal, Mangesh Yadav, Devdutt Padikkal are the ideal Impact Player options for defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for the upcoming IPL 2026 season.
*Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Matheesha Pathirana, Vaibhav Arora, Akash Deep and Anukul Roy are the ideal Impact Player options for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for the upcoming IPL 2026 season.
*Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
Mayank Yadav, Digvesh Rathi and Abdul Samad are the ideal Impact Player options for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for the upcoming IPL 2026 season.
*Mumbai Indians (MI)
Mayank Markande, Ashwani Kumar and Atharva Ankolekar are the ideal Impact Player options for Mumbai Indians (MI) for the upcoming IPL 2026 season. Notably, former skipper Rohit Sharma also played as ‘Impact Player’ in many matches during the IPL 2025 so it won’t be surprising if he does the same in the upcoming 2026 season.
*Delhi Capitals (DC)
Ashutosh Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Sameer Rizvi, T Natarajan are the ideal Impact Player options for Delhi Capitals (DC) for the upcoming IPL 2026 season.
*Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
Zeeshan Ansari, Shivam Mavi and Eshan Malinga are the ideal Impact Player options for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for the upcoming IPL 2026 season.
*Gujarat Titans (GT)
Prasidh Krishna, R Sai Kishore, Ishant Sharma and Arshad Khan are the ideal Impact Player options for Gujarat Titans for the upcoming IPL 2026 season.
*Punjab Kings (PBKS)
Vyshak Vijay Kumar, Harpreet Brar, Prabhsimran Singh and Yash Thakur are the ideal Impact Player options for Punjab Kings for the upcoming IPL 2026 season.
*Rajasthan Royals (RR)
Sandeep Sharma, Nandre Burger and Shubham Dubey are the ideal Impact Player options for Rajasthan Royals for the upcoming IPL 2025 season.
News Edit KV Raman
