During the Opening Ceremony of IPL season 8, Sourav Ganguly
says that “IPL has done wonders for Indian Cricket”.
Though I agree that an IPL
is better than no IPL at all, as it helps so many young cricketers who may or
may not make the final 11 or final 15 of the National Team, to enjoy cricket
with Indian and International stars and also earn good money, But “IPL working
wonders for Indian Cricket”. Am I missing something or people are just paid to
say what they are supposed to say?
Let’s compare the performance of Indian Cricket Team in both
tests and one day internationals between pre IPL Period and Post IPL. And for
the sake of really testing the capabilities of the team with respect to
challenging situations, let’s compare their performance outside home,
especially in England, Australia and South Africa. Because this has been the week
area for Indian Cricket and we all know about it.
IPL was founded in 2008, so as per Sourav’s claims, it must
have planted its improvement since 2009? Hypothetically at least. Let’s compare
Test Cricket Team’s Performance First:
From 2002 to 2008 (6 seasons), Indian team managed to
register “One Test Series Win, 2
Series were drawn and they Lost 2”. This includes a test series win in
England and a Series in Australia ending 1 match each. They lost only in
England, by one match. Then came IPL and from 2009 till date they “haven’t won a single test series in these
countries, drawn 2 and lost 5!” This includes miserable whitewashes in
England and Australia. The way they lost in England and Australia during 2011
and 12, it’s hard to understand what Sourav is saying.
May be I should not talk about test cricket? Though that
should be the first priority if you are a cricketer, right? But anyhow, maybe
he was suggesting one day cricket performance? Let’s see about that. From 2002
and 2008 again, Indian team managed to “Win
3 one day series in Australia and England”. Where as from 2008 until
now, they have “Won 2”. More
or less same? Or worse?
If we talk about World Cups, during the pre IPL period,
India was finalist in One and Lost out in Group Stage in West Indies. During
the Post IPL period, they Won a cup and reached one semifinal. The cup they won
was obviously in India, as you know. One noticeable achievement was winning
champions trophy in England. But that’s about it, that stands out.
I still don’t understand how IPL has done Wonders to Indian
Cricket. Do you?
1 comment:
I agree . IPL has done absolutely no wonders especially for the Indian test team. I have always felt that players performing consistently at the Test level are real while the rest are just mere mortals of the game.
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