Sunday, April 11, 2010

How has team India benefited from the IPL

One of the reasons why the Indian Premier League was launched a couple of years back was to bring out the best of the talent in domestic cricket so that the international team does not suffer due to wrong selection if the BCCI and the IPL chairman Lalit Modi are to be believed. Lalit Modi confirmed this further by making it mandatory for all teams to have not more than 4 players outside India. But, records suggest something different. If the Indian team post the inaugural edition of the IPL is given a deep look at, the players who have featured in the 15 member international squad has hardly found to vary.

The IPL has seen a batsman in V V S Laxman who features for the Deccan Chargers and was also in the elite list of icon players but has been almost ruled out when it comes to playing in the limited overs game. Of course, the senior trio of Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly were shown the gates long back which need not be an issue. In addition, there have been may batsmen like Ambati Rayudu who has shone for the Mumbai Indians with the bat. And then we have Shikar Dhawan, Chetheshwar Pujara and others who have done a satisfactory job for their team.

But, none of these players are found to make it to the selection panel's list when it comes to selecting the 15 member squad for any tour be it at home or outside. The young players in the international team is found to contain some names which are heard commonly like Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Rohith Sharma etc. And, in case anyone is injured by freak chance, their places are taken by Piyush Chawla(in place of Ravindra Jadeja), Pragyan Ojha and Sudeep Tyagi. On the other side, the BCCI has not been able to handle with the existing players itself like Robin Uttappa who has been in the international squad before.

There was no reason for someone like Abhimanyu Mithun to make it to the international 15 member squad with just 1 T20 game in the IPL behind him. So is the case with Saha. There are players like Monish Mishra, Rahul Sharma, Tirumalasetti Suman who shone with the bat for the Deccan Chargers to name a few. But, the reason behind the BCCI sticking to its old strategy of having familiar faces in the 15 member squad is somewhat confusing. Though the team has seen Pragyan Saha, Piyush Chawla and Saha, they are hardly played unless there is a freak injury to any of the familiar players.

If the BCCI doesn't want to cast its eyes on the mentioned players, the words of the same doesn't make any sense when it claims the IPL to bring in talented young players up the ladder.

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