Australia’s interim head coach, Andrew McDonald, lauded the Indian Premier League (IPL) and said that playing in the upcoming IPL 2022 will help the Australian players in their buildup towards defending their ICC T20 World Cup title on home soil later this year.

Preparations have already begun for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022, to be held in October-November in Australia, and teams will definitely be looking to finalize their squads with the help of the IPL 2022, and McDonald also admitted that it will be a good build-up for his team.

McDonald said during a virtual press conference: “Oh, no doubt. I think the quality of the IPL can coexist with our preparation for our plans for T20 World Cup, and there was no greater example than Josh Hazlewood. Going to the IPL before the World Cup, getting a nice build in getting a nice lead-in.”

Read Also: IPL 2022: League stage set to have 55 matches in Mumbai, 15 in Pune- Report

There are a number of Australian players taking part in the IPL, and McDonald said that he would be happy to see even more players getting exposure in the world’s biggest T20 league, saying the Indian league has accelerated cricket and taken the game to an altogether different level.

McDonald further explained, “So yeah, there are great benefits to be had, but playing at that level, being exposed, those conditions and the conversations that happen within the IPL franchises, you know, all the countries converging on one. I've said this before that, you know, 2008 was almost the moment where the game accelerated and it was played differently.”

He signed off by saying, “I think that was really through the coming together of ideas, nations mixing with each other, players mixing coaches mixing. And it took the game forward. We're seeing an exciting product ever since. So, we're excited by our guys playing there. We want more, more players playing and if we can to get that exposure.”

(With PTI Inputs)