The Indian Premier League, which is the most successful T20I league around the world, was subject to immense criticism after the Indian cricket team’s embarrassing exit from the T20 World Cup2 022.
Several experts and former cricketers including the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, and Wasim Akram, among others, lashed out at players for skipping international tours and series instead of IPL as a part of the work management. There were many who blamed the IPL for ruining cricket.
However, former Indian cricketer and two-time World Cup hero Gautam Gambhir has come out in support of the Indian Premier League and has slammed all the critics as he feels that the IPL is the best thing to happen to the Indian cricket.
Speaking at the TURF2022 & India Sports Awards of FICCI, Gautam Gambhir feels that it is unfair to blame the Indian Premier League, which he feels is the best thing that happened to Indian cricket. He also feels that the players and their performances are to be blamed if the Indian side is not able to succeed in the ICC events. He said:
“IPL is the best thing that has happen to Indian cricket. I can say this with all my senses. There has been lot of backlash regarding IPL since it started. Every time Indian cricket does not do well, the blame comes at IPL, which is not fair. If we don’t perform well in ICC tournaments, blame the players, blame the performance, but it is unfair to point fingers on the IPL,”
Furthermore, Gambhir heaped praises on the BCCI for employing Indian coaches over the last couple of years to lead the Indian national team and also stressed upon the need of bringing in more Indian coaches for the franchises in the IPL. He said:
“One good thing that has happen in Indian cricket is that Indians have started coaching the Indian National Cricket team now. I strongly believe Indian should coach the Indian team. All these foreign coaches, who we gave a lot of importance to, come here to make money and then they vanish. Emotions are important in sports. The only people who can be emotional about Indian cricket are the ones who have represented their country,”
He added: “I am a mentor of Lucknow Super Giants. One thing I want to change is that I want to see all Indian coaches in IPL. Because no Indian coach gets opportunity in Big Bash or any other foreign leagues. India is a superpower in cricket, but our coaches do not get opportunity anywhere. All the foreigners come here and get the top jobs. We are more democratic and flexible than other leagues. We need to give our own people more opportunity,”
