The Indian players are facing a lot of criticism after their twin series losses against Ireland 0-2, and then England 0-4. Currently on the UK tour, out of 7 matches played, Shreyas Iyer-led team is yet to post a win. But former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar is of the opinion that instead of blaming the players, the onus is on selectors to pick players without the ‘IPL makeup’.
Sanjay Manjrekar holds IPL responsible?
“The easy thing would be is to hold players responsible for this overseas T20 setback. The right thing would be is to hold those responsible who have made IPL such, that it puts a heavy make up on Indian batters,” Manjrekar wrote on ‘X’. “Challenge is for the selectors to imagine Indian batters without the heavy IPL make up on & pick only those for India. A lot of T20 cricket will be overseas now. The home fun run is over.”
Now, India play an ODI series from July 14 vs England, and post that, the T20I team leaves for Zimbabwe, which could be yet another challenging tour, given their difficulties in the just concluded series. Then, the big tour vs New Zealand follows, where there would be five T20Is, five ODIs and two Tests.
What is the issue with IPL?
It just seems that IPL has way too much batting-friendly conditions. 200 is the new normal, and chasing 200 is not an uphill task anymore. In fact, teams have quite regularly started chasing down in excess of 250… the main culprit here is the small boundaries, great pitches, and even better outfields where batters get maximum value for their shots.
Another issue is the impact sub rule, which has led given the luxury of an extra hitter to most teams. In fact, Parthiv Patel heavily criticised this rule, for being a hindrance in India finding quality players. He said on JioStar, “For the past 10 years, we’ve been saying the same thing, everything will be fine when Jasprit Bumrah comes back. Everything will be alright when Hardik Pandya returns. But it’s been 10 years, and we still haven’t found a replacement for either Hardik Pandya or Jasprit Bumrah.
“The biggest reason behind that is the IPL’s Impact Player rule. Bumrah is a different case, but India will not be able to find the all-rounder they are looking for until the Impact Player rule is removed from the IPL.”
