IPL godsend for domestic players

Strip away the sequined glamour. Take away the money sufficient for a king's ransom. Even without the hype and the hoopla, the IPL would still be a godsend for many. A planeload of Aussies may have been running away with the praise and monopolised the match awards. Even so, the Indians have not been all that far behind. Would a clean striking Abhishek Nayar have been known to the cricket world if not for the exposure that the IPL has given him? Who would have heard of the opener Swapnil Asnodkar if not for the flashy innings or two that he has played for the Rajasthan Royals on prime time television? The pace bowler Ashok Dinda, who is said to come from a nondescript village in Bengal, has been so impressive that international stars have been praising him. Wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha may never have got close to the Bengal Ranji squad if not for Deep Dasgupta throwing in his lot with ICL. Within a season, Saha has stepped up to the plate and struck the best IPL bowlers around. Dinesh Salunkhe, who emerged from the country's first talent hunt in a reality show run by the Star network has had this golden chance to play alongside his idol Shane Warne. In his wildest dreams he would not have imagined that he would share the bowling with the blond leggie who was one of Wisden's cricketers of the 20th century. Not long ago, Palani Amarnath was playing lower rung league cricket in Chennai. His elevation to the glamorous world of thumping music and a cheerleaderdriven ambience is another of those quaint success stories to come out of IPL. Any number of doubts would have been raised about a quick national comeback for that smiling fast bowler Lakshmipathy Balaji who has been out of action for two years with stress fractures to his back. His spectacular hart-trick against the Punjab Kings XI may have ensured that national selectors will sit up and take notice. Besides opening up a golden path to cricketers of all nationalities, each of the eight teams has had more than one Indian success story. That may be sufficient reason to justify this nearly $2 billion entertainment enterprise that has taken the cricket world by storm. Former skippers Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid are sounding a word of caution. They have a point when they say that we should not get carried away. This T-20 success could be a mirage with more flash and less substance to it. The stalwarts who have met the challenge of every form of the game from Tests to ODIs are now grappling with the newfangled demands of T-20 cricket. As batsmen they are not totally bemused by the demands, although their experiences as captain have ranged from the positive to the dismal. The selectors are not going to base their Test team decisions on T-20 performances. Vengsarkar and his colleagues are a lot sharper than that. They were the ones who picked a T-20 outfit minus any of the seniors and proved their point when India won the world title. Where the selectors may not have been able to render justice is in picking and giving the consistent breaks to the secondary level talent of the type that has broken into fame and fortune in IPL. Regional pulls and pressures would inevitably lead to the selectors sticking to known faces with a record to their names and not risk their rep utation on hunches and wild cards. It will take the best of young talent in national cricket a huge number of lucky breaks to get the exposure that the IPL has given to so many unknowns. National cricket too goes live on television but without the kind of audience and the hype that is associated with IPL, which has an international field and reach. In many ways, IPL has done the nation proud. As franchises try to save on expenses, a few fringe players who have not figured in any matches have been dropped from the squad altogether. Apart from that, there has been very little uncertainty among the Indian players picked and given breaks. The IPL has indeed broken ground in quite a few ways.

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