IPL is like taking the lift to the top instead of stairs
BOON For domestic players IPL is a unique tuition with fabulous perks of watching top stars and sharing the dugout with legends
If IPL was supposed to shower riches on domestic players, this is yet to happen.
The beginning was encouraging as domestic players were contracted outside the auction and teams went on a recruiting spree, driven also by a clever motive to starve competition of young Indian talent. Later, when rules changed to draft domestic players into auctions the hiring slowed down.
Contrary to expectations, IPL’s commercial boom has touched only a few domestic players. This season, 135 Indian cricketers are contracted with teams.
Of these, approximately 50 are international players who are already financially secure. Only 48 players are at the minimum IPL wage (~10 lakh) and another 14 are in the ~10-30 lakh range.
Once these numbers are analysed, the stark truth is rich Indian cricketers have become richer and only 25 or so domestic players (out of a pool of 1000-odd who feature in senior BCCI tournaments representing 28 teams) have come into life-changing money.
Yet, if not financially, India’s domestic cricketers have benefitted massively from the IPL. For young players, it’s a moneycan’t-buy experience, a unique tuition with fabulous perks of watching top players up close and sharing the dressing room populated by legends.
For them, the IPL is a six-week cricket masterclass in the best finishing school of the world.
The benefits of this priceless experience are clearly visible as the IPL-trained generation of Indian cricketers is physically fit, self confident and mentally strong. Nothing fazes them, least of all reputation, and being on the back-foot is not an option anymore.
But ultimately it’s the opportunity to perform that matters. For any young ambitious player, the IPL is a fantastic tournament that fast-tracks careers --- it is like taking a lift instead of the steps to reach the top! The India-Australia Test series will be remembered for a long time – there was intense competition between top two teams in the world, there were mind games and then, there was the pitch controversy. The first two Tests – in Pune and Bangalore – saw the Australian media come down heavily on Indian cricket.
Both the pitches started to assist spinners from the first day itself and that led to the Australian media outburst. However, according to former Australia cricketer Dav Whatmore more than the players, it was media’s hype that led to the pitch controversy.
“It is a defensive mechanism, more by the visiting media. I think from the players’ point of view, they know what to expect. It is not a surprise for players to turn up and know that the pitch is going to turn on Day One in India. But it makes for good reading,” Whatmore, who has coached teams like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, told HT.
He added that professional players should be able to play on all kinds of pitches. “People should look in the mirror. As a