The Indian Premier League (IPL) is highly regarded as one of the best cricket leagues in the world. It brings the best players under one roof. The lucrative tournament was founded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2008. One could understand the length of IPL’s popularity with the simple fact that it has an exclusive window in ICC Future Tours Programme. No other domestic competition enjoys this much liberty.
Many experts and pundits of the captivating game have heaped praises for the cash-rich league. The latest name in the list of former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram. The legendary swing bowler believes that IPL is the best cricket tournament in the world.
Akram, while speaking to Tanveer Ahmed on the latter’s YouTube channel, pointed out the differences between the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the IPL.
“There is a difference now (between IPL and PSL). In the last five-six years, there has been a big difference. They have put in a lot of money. IPL is the biggest cricket tournament in the world,” Wasim Akram told Tanveer Ahmed on his YouTube channel.
Akram also hailed BCCI for reinvesting the money generated from IPL into first-class cricket, which has eventually helped India to discover talented domestic players in the recent times. To name a few, players like Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Rishabh Pant, etc., started their cricketing journeys from the IPL.
“A team’s budget only is around 60-80 Cr to buy players…Indian currency…double in our currency. So when profit is made on that kind of money BCCI invests it back into first-class cricket,” the 54-year-old added.
The Lahore-born former cricketer applauded the whole system of IPL, especially the part where former cricketers are hired as coaches to nourish the young talent.
“Most players in the IPL have their personal coaches, like Praveen Amre. They have hired such kind of former cricketers who have gone on to become good coaches. You look at their batsmen; they play with such high confidence. The system is completely different,” concluded Akram.
The 13th season of IPL was supposed to begin from March 29 early this year, but it got postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, now it is all set to be played in the UAE during September-November window.
