Written by: Pranjal Khatiwada - 23030, Grade XII
Posted on: 22 November, 2022
The latest defeat of India in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup has cricket fans scratching their heads: has the IPL which started back in 2008 really revolutionized their T20 cricket or has it just been the opposite of that? Since the IPL started, India hasn’t won any imajor ICC T20 tournament and that has been an area of discussion for many cricket enthusiasts.
Let us start with England first; the current, two times limited-over champions. After the humiliating defeat in the 2015 ODI World Cup, they planned to innovate a form of cricket where they did not just rely on the senior pros who were just in the team for their names, but also, they brought in some young fresh faces into the group. They started a brand of fearless cricket. They groomed their players from the beginning to play a simple and natural form of cricket, and to express themselves in every way they could. Suddenly, after this change, they started getting results. They became a formidable side in limited-overs. The team who were knocked out by Bangladesh in the group stage of the 2015 World Cup were scoring more than 400, which seemed almost impossible in the cricketing world. Suddenly, they had match winners in everyone. Each player on the team could have won the match on any given day. They groomed their all-rounders in the domestic circuit and were the only team to have batting down to number 11; and, in many ways, this change in their side helped them to play a brand of fearless cricket leaving other teams behind and gaining an elite level.
Now, let's talk about India, a country where cricket flows in everyone's veins. They have facilities, enough money, and every possible cricket infrastructure that we could imagine to play cricket. Even with all of this, they are still thirsting to get their hands on a T20 trophy! So, what is the relationship between IPL and India not winning? The simple reason could be, they are not thinking and utilizing their resources in players from the IPL. IPL has undoubtedly produced a lot of young talents in the country and has set a high standard for players to play a professional brand of cricket. And that has helped in building players, but not teams. The Indian Cricket Team is based on names, not on young players who can actually perform. They are still playing that old-fashioned cricket where they rely heavily on some players and are not performing as a team. The players produced by IPL are way good enough to play professionally, but they are still behind the line of players of the past which has resulted in their underperformance. IPL has been just seen as a money-making tournament rather than a team-building tournament. Even with the new players coming forward, they are not allowing them in the national team and are still stuck with the old goats, which when you compare with England, they have done just the opposite of that. Also, the players from other nations are participating in this tournament thinking to build them professionally, and they are reaping a lot of rewards on the international stage whereas sticking with an old-fashioned form of cricket that has hurt India in recent years.
All in all, IPL has been wonderful for teams and players who are looking forward to improving themselves and playing a new brand of cricket. And in contrast, it has been a money-making business that has left those teams suffering in their pool of wealth.
