New Delhi . Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has raised serious questions on the scouting process of IPL franchises. He believes that many teams spend crores of rupees on players after seeing their performance in state and city level T20 leagues, but the same players are unable to stand against international level bowling in IPL.
What did Gavaskar say?
In his column in Sportstar, Gavaskar wrote that many big hitters perform brilliantly in local T20 leagues, but their weaknesses are exposed when they come to the IPL. According to him, there is a huge difference between the level of local league and IPL.
They said that:
The level of batting and bowling in state and city leagues is not like IPL. In such a situation, scouts should not select players only on the basis of statistics or hype.
Questions raised on scouts
Gavaskar believes that sometimes scouts get influenced by player agents, social media promotion and some selected innings. The result is that franchises spend huge amounts of money on players who later do not live up to the expectations of the team. He said that when a player is bought for crores and then made to sit on the bench after a few matches, it shows the failure of the scouting system.
“Dummy is sold”
Gavaskar made a scathing comment, saying that many times players are “sold” to franchises whose ability is not at IPL level. He was pointing out that some players get overpriced due to their performances in local competitions.
Gets a new contract based on performance in one match
Gavaskar also said that some players struggle throughout the season, but play good innings in one low-pressure match. Then on the basis of the same performance they are bought again for the next season. According to him, in IPL an entire team can be made of such “one-match performers” who keep getting opportunities again and again.
Message for IPL teams
Gavaskar’s clear message is that franchises should not choose players just based on runs, sixes or social media buzz. Scouts must also make an in-depth assessment of technique, mental strength and ability to perform at a high level of cricket. This statement has come at a time when many expensive players in the Indian Premier League did not perform as per expectations, while some low-cost players performed brilliantly and benefited their teams.
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