IPL and ICL In sum IPL threw a lot of money into the mix, while ICL went for hard work
May 19 2008 | Views 380 |
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Tags: IPL ICL ICL more professional Time will tell Who on top
Tags: IPL ICL ICL more professional Time will tell Who on top
I am writing this blog as the semi finalists are being chosen from the major teams that have done well. If current form is any judge, Rajasthan,Punjab Chennai and possibly Mumbai will be in the semi finals.
Based upon what has transpired we can make some judgements. IPL had a feast of runs and a lot of centuries. The number of centuries have died down after the departure of the most of the Aussies, though Gilchrist the primus inter pares(first amongst equals) is still playing in the IPL.He has after a brief initial interlude of wild hitting and a century seems to have settled down to a decent but not spectacular average in the 30's, perhaps he is saving his best for the final push. Now the matches appear to be lower scoring and more equal contests(except for the lopsided loss suffered by the Kolkata Knight Riders recently). These matches seem now quite similar to the ICL matches, which were more tests of skill, in my view than these matches at the IPL. As most of the ICL players were journeymen cricketers, whose livelihood depended on a good performance at the league. So they performed the best they could with bat ,ball and in the field.
In my view the ICL could be a good league to emulate for the future as they appear to have their basics right.The IPL has a load of succecssful cricketers both Indian and overseas, with less of a fire in the belly. The ICL performance in the fielding was much more crisp than their richer counterparts. Some of the ICL catches specially in the outfield were truly amazing. Though the IPL fielding has been up to snuff it has not been as good as the ICL. IPL batting specially the overseas batting has been better than the ICL because quality batsmen and all rounders were chosen. However, the bowling with players like McGrath,Warne,Chawla,Sreesanth,RP Singh being the biggest wicket takers and exceptions to the rule the journeymen bowlers, the major part of any league, in the IPL have not been as good as the ICL journeymen, like Kumaran , Murtaza, Yadav and Sudhindra. who were match winners.
Another interesting feature is the fizzling out of the Indian super star batsmen, particularly Ganguly, who, inspite of a top score of 91 has an average of 21.
In addition to Ganguly batsmen like Dravid, have been relatively disappointing, Laxman a little better. The absolute standout has been Gautam Gambhir who has towered above his compatriots.So has Dhoni with an average in the high 40's. Again players like Dhavan, Badrinath and Asnodkar are journeymen standouts though Badrinath (who is a player who should have been picked in tests and ODI's at least two years ago) should not be called a journeyman. His exclusion, smells of shenanigans at high levels. Suresh Raina, appears to be a disappointment, though Dhoni inexplicably kept sending him in earlier than both Badrinath and himself
Though the ICL in my view had a more professional first year, IPL money threatens to bury the ICL. I hope this does not happen and we have two viable leagues like the two leagues in American baseball who fight it out in their finals, called humorously as the World Series.
Based upon what has transpired we can make some judgements. IPL had a feast of runs and a lot of centuries. The number of centuries have died down after the departure of the most of the Aussies, though Gilchrist the primus inter pares(first amongst equals) is still playing in the IPL.He has after a brief initial interlude of wild hitting and a century seems to have settled down to a decent but not spectacular average in the 30's, perhaps he is saving his best for the final push. Now the matches appear to be lower scoring and more equal contests(except for the lopsided loss suffered by the Kolkata Knight Riders recently). These matches seem now quite similar to the ICL matches, which were more tests of skill, in my view than these matches at the IPL. As most of the ICL players were journeymen cricketers, whose livelihood depended on a good performance at the league. So they performed the best they could with bat ,ball and in the field.
In my view the ICL could be a good league to emulate for the future as they appear to have their basics right.The IPL has a load of succecssful cricketers both Indian and overseas, with less of a fire in the belly. The ICL performance in the fielding was much more crisp than their richer counterparts. Some of the ICL catches specially in the outfield were truly amazing. Though the IPL fielding has been up to snuff it has not been as good as the ICL. IPL batting specially the overseas batting has been better than the ICL because quality batsmen and all rounders were chosen. However, the bowling with players like McGrath,Warne,Chawla,Sreesanth,RP Singh being the biggest wicket takers and exceptions to the rule the journeymen bowlers, the major part of any league, in the IPL have not been as good as the ICL journeymen, like Kumaran , Murtaza, Yadav and Sudhindra. who were match winners.
Another interesting feature is the fizzling out of the Indian super star batsmen, particularly Ganguly, who, inspite of a top score of 91 has an average of 21.
In addition to Ganguly batsmen like Dravid, have been relatively disappointing, Laxman a little better. The absolute standout has been Gautam Gambhir who has towered above his compatriots.So has Dhoni with an average in the high 40's. Again players like Dhavan, Badrinath and Asnodkar are journeymen standouts though Badrinath (who is a player who should have been picked in tests and ODI's at least two years ago) should not be called a journeyman. His exclusion, smells of shenanigans at high levels. Suresh Raina, appears to be a disappointment, though Dhoni inexplicably kept sending him in earlier than both Badrinath and himself
Though the ICL in my view had a more professional first year, IPL money threatens to bury the ICL. I hope this does not happen and we have two viable leagues like the two leagues in American baseball who fight it out in their finals, called humorously as the World Series.
© Girdhar Gopal., all rights reserved.
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Some other recent posts by Girdhar Gopal
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- Indian Bowlers both Fast and Spin must be nurtured to Prevent Burn Out So Rotate them!
- Wishes to a Friend
- Ahmedabad and Bangalore blasts should awaken India from slumber as Jallianwala Bagh did Ninety Years ago
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