Players often receive flak for participating in cash-rich leagues like Indian Premier League (IPL 2021), Caribbean Premier League (CPL) only for money, but South Africa spinner Tabraiz Shamsi opened up about his experience of playing in such high-profile tournaments.
“Yes definitely. I’ve been fortunate enough to play in the Caribbean Premier League and it was after I went to the CPL and did well that domestic teams in South Africa started to take me seriously and giving me regular game time and then I got picked for the national team after playing CPL and IPL,” Shamsi told Cricket Pakistan.
Even though people consider that players participate in such leagues out of greed, tournaments like IPL, CPL have benefitted a lot of youngsters with the kind of exposure and experience they provide.
“People see it as a money thing and say that the players are participating in these tournaments for greed. Personally speaking, of course you do earn a bit of money but what is most important are the things that you learn from the people who are not really in your circle,” he said.
“So, you are hearing different chats from West Indian players or Indian players and you are learning about the different ways people think about the game and train. You pick up the small things like that and I think that sort of exposure has really accelerated my growth as a spin-bowler,” Shamsi added.
(With Cricket Pakistan inputs)
