Sunil Gavaskar says IPL teams waste money by picking players from state T20 leagues; questions their standards

Gavaskar's words come after multiple BCCI state associations starting their own T20 leagues.

India cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar has said that the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises are indulging in sheer waste of money by picking players from state T20 leagues. He said that the standard of those leagues is not comparable to even domestic T20 tournaments.

This comes after DDCA launched its own Delhi Premier League last weekend. Players who excel in such competitions have piqued the interest of IPL clubs, with a few placing huge bets on their potential at auctions. The IPL clubs have also paid high prices for players who rose to prominence because of their performances at the junior level.

A prime example of this was Chennai Super Kings, the joint-most successful team in IPL history, spending a staggering Rs 8.4 crore on Sameer Rizvi, who rose to prominence after getting the quickest century in the UP T20 League.

Sunil Gavaskar, on the other hand, has questioned the rationale behind such a strategy, pointing out that the quality of cricket varies greatly when comparing the U-19 or state T20 league to domestic cricket (read the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament), let alone the IPL or international level.

He further wrote that ‘forking crores’ for players who impress in state premier leagues is a “sheer waste of money”.

“We have already seen how most under-19 players struggle to get their footing at the first-class level as the standard of the opposition is way higher than in the junior tournaments.

Similarly, those who shine in the State T20 leagues don’t necessarily replicate their performances in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy or the IPL as the standards are much higher there. The franchises are finding out that forking crores for players shining in the State Premier leagues is not a great idea and a sheer waste of money,” he wrote in Mid-day.

The Indian domestic season begins with the Duleep Trophy, a red-ball tournament, and Gavaskar believes such competitions provide selectors an idea of which players are ready to go to the next level.

“The Indian cricket season begins with the Duleep Trophy starting in a couple of weeks and it’s good to see that this time around all the internationals will be taking part in it. That is the one sure way the selectors will be able to see if the bowlers and batters are good enough to take the next step to the international level,” he wrote.