Legendary fast bowler Wasim Akram has taken a dig at the duration of the Indian Premier League (IPL). While promoting the Pakistan Super League (PSL), the former IPL coach and commentator mocked the length of the biggest cricket league in the world, joking that one’s kids grow up but the tournament doesn’t end.
Is IPL too long?
“Bacche bade ho jate hain, woh league khatam hi nahi hoti (Kids grow up, but the league just keeps running),” Akram said during a PSL promotional event held at the Lord’s Cricket Ground.
The former Pakistan pacer cited the Big Bash League (BBL) as an example. The Australian league started with just 31 matches in 2011-12 but expanded to 61 games in the years to come. However, Cricket Australia (CA) has now cut it down to 44 matches for the last couple of years.
The IPL runs for 2 months, while the BBL ends in about 40 days, the same as the PSL, which plays 60 matches compared to the IPL’s 74. However, one must take into account that the IPL has 10 teams, compared to 8 in the PSL and BBL.
“The best thing about the league is that it is played for only about 34–35 days, maybe a little more next year. A prime example is the BBL. They started off with two and a half months. They realised after four or five years it wasn’t working. Now their duration is about 40 days. That’s it. That’s the beauty of the PSL,” he added.
PSL has more talent than IPL, claims Wasim Akram
Akram made the big claim that PSL has more talented domestic players than the IPL. The former fast bowler works as a commentator all over the globe and stated that it’s a common opinion that Pakistan produces more quality talent while India has the quantity.
“Of course, the talent. Everybody overseas, when I talk to them, they talk about bowling in the IPL and other leagues. They say the PSL, as far as talent is concerned, is definitely No. 1 because we have quality, not quantity,” said Akram.
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