Australian head coach Justin Langer believes that the timing of the Indian Premier League 2020 is to blame for never-ending injury problems that have become a major concern in the ongoing India vs Australia series.
IPL 2020 was delayed last year from its usual March start because of the Coronavirus pandemic, which brought all the sports activities around the world to a halt. The cash-rich league finally took place in September in the UAE.
However, the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series has seen players who participated in the IPL struggle with injuries. Australia’s David Warner and Marcus Stoinis injured themselves during the white-ball series against India.
On the other hand, for India situation has become more like a nightmare as the list of players who got injured and ruled-out has been increasing. More than 10 players, including Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja amongst others, have suffered injuries during the ongoing series.
Therefore, Justin Langer blamed the IPL 2020’s timing for the never-ending injuries issues in the ongoing series.
Well, while interacting with the media ahead of the Brisbane Test, Justin Langer admitted that although he loves the IPL, but as per him the timing of IPL this time could be the reason behind the recent spurt of injuries. Langer found it ‘interesting’ to observe the impact on both the teams because of the injuries. He said:
“We’ll review this, but I can’t help think that the IPL this year probably wasn’t ideal timing for anyone, certainly for such a big series like this. But the timing of it probably wasn’t ideal and I wonder if that’s having an impact on the injuries we are seeing for both teams throughout this summer.”
Despite criticizing the timing of IPL 2020, Justin Langer was all praises for IPL and how it has helped players in their white-ball development. He said:
“I love the IPL. I look at the IPL now like I used to look at (English) county cricket for young players, you go and play county cricket and it helps their development enormously. I think it’s the same with the IPL with our players, it helps their white-ball development.”
Meanwhile, the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy is locked in at 1-1, with the fourth and the final Test match scheduled to take place at the Gabba in Brisbane starting from January 15.
