The IPL will be back pretty soon, and as usual, fans can’t wait to watch their favourite teams play the most belligerent and innovative cricket in its 17th edition. And with the IPL immediately followed by the T20 World Cup in June joint-hosted by the West Indies and the USA, cricket fans are gearing up for a fun-filled year. But this IPL carries more weight than most people know.
No more games to experiment
The recently concluded T20i series between India and Afghanistan was a great platform for the young guns to cement their places for the upcoming World Cup, and we were treated to a mouth-watering double super over to end the series on a dizzying high. This also meant that the likes of Jitesh Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rinku Singh made a strong case for themselves, with the latter almost a certainty in the squad. But the problem is, that’s it. There are no more international T20 games left for India before the global tournament. And what’s between this series and the World Cup? The IPL.
Is it a boon or a curse?
This is what makes this year’s IPL critical this year. There is little doubt that the team selection would be based on how the several talents of India go about in this edition of the IPL. With such a large void of T20I games for the national team, which hasn’t been helped by the continuous chopping and changing of the T20I team every time there’s a new series, the IPL will draw the eyes of our trusted selectors. And with the whole of India always behind the IPL, the league must do what it promises, which is to provide us with downright match-winners who prevail under pressure.
What the IPL does is give our youngsters the freedom to play in the position they feel they would do best in, after all ten different teams have a somewhat even share of capped and soon-to-be-capped Indian cricketers. Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube at number 4, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shubhman Gill opening, Hardik Pandya at number 5, and so many more players that will be kept a sharp and keen eye on. It’s a race against both pace and time, and these lads are not going to back down from a challenge. What we as ardent Indian cricket fans can hope for are clear winners for the final playing XI when that fateful day of our opening match arrives.
Knowing what’s on the line, there is no doubt these players will be at their best and provide us with adrenaline-filled entertainment; something that resembles a modern-day colosseum battle. If you weren’t already excited for this year’s IPL, you definitely should be now. Since the IPL has already been used as the reason for numerous selection calls in recent times, this IPL will be no different, if not monumentally more important.
