Ashwin talked about an English journalist tweeting about IPL 2022 taking “one-sixth” of the year.
His statements, made on his YouTube channel come after a tweet from an English journalist who signified that IPL 2022 would take “one-sixth” of the year. Even former England players like David Gower and Michael Atherton have criticized their players for playing in IPL, especially after the 0-4 Ashes series debacle recently.
“What are the disadvantages because of this two-week earlier start when it comes to other countries? They (international sides) would have already scheduled their international calendar. For instance, we have England and Australia are playing few games against different countries during the IPL. Even Sri Lanka has few international matches during the IPL window.”
But mostly, South Africa, Australia, England, and New Zealand, schedule their international games based on IPL fixtures. This year, New Zealand is not having any international matches during IPL,” Ashwin stated on his YouTube channel.
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“Lawrence Booth (English journalist) had tweeted about IPL fixtures saying it takes almost one-third (one-sixth) of the year. Even the English Premier League happens and almost has a six-month window. The players will have more gaps between matches and they will have only one or two matches per week. Of course, cricket getting to that stage will always remain a huge question mark. But IPL as a league has all the potential to take cricket into that stage for sure. And all the cricket viewers, cricket nations, stakeholders know this already,” said Ashwin.
The 35-year-old off-spinner, who will represent the Rajasthan Royals in the upcoming edition, acknowledged that a lengthy IPL might impact the international calendar but insisted that IPL has “been under the radar” despite every country having a league of its own.
"Because of this IPL window, there might be a chance that other formats of international cricket or world events might get shortened. In cricket, we have a 50-over World Cup, World Test Championship, T20 World Cup, and add to that, we need to have windows for all these leagues as well, like IPL, PSL, T10 league, CPL, BBL, etc. In England, they have a Hundred-ball competition and add to that, they have a T20 Blast as well. There are so many leagues being started every year.
IPL has been under the radar for so many years now. Suddenly, some ex-cricketer will say something bad about IPL without any reason. Imagine the situation in 2008 or 2010. There were only 20-25 cricketers who would be in the Indian setup for representing Team India,” said Ashwin.
Apart from laying out why IPL having a dedicated window from many countries, the off-spinner also counted the positives and the benefits of the league.
“Even when I started, my parents and grandparents asked me if cricket will help me to support financially. Only 15-20 or 25 cricketers will get opportunities in a 10-year span. But now, because of the IPL, at least 75-80 Indian cricketers are getting opportunities every year.
It doesn't stop with the IPL alone. Players get opportunities to play in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and showcase their talent there as well. In addition to that, players also get opportunities in Media, coaching setup, or some other ecosystem setup that gives them opportunities. That is a massive tick for IPL,” said the off-spinner.