Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) the inaugural champions of IPL are a team to beat in IPL 2024. RR have won 2 matches on the bounce as the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin & Yuzvendra Chahal have been quite foxy in their variations. Ravichandran Ashwin against Delhi Capitals (DC) played a scintillating cameo and showed his batting prowess as well.
We should not forget that the captaincy of Sanju Samson has been top notch as he has marshalled his troops smartly. He along with the head coach Kumar Sangakkara have brought the best out of the players and the example is of the Riyan Parag who played a barnstorming knock against DC and made a statement that he is not finished yet.
Ravichandran Ashwin may be used as a pinch hitter against Mumbai Indians (MI) on 1st April as he has got wide range of shots and is quite fearless in his attitude. Ashwin would be well aware of the fact that MI challenge won’t be an easy one as there is a lot of buzz going around MI’s leadership group and Hardik Pandya.
I wonder if IPL is even cricket, because sport takes a backstage during IPL- Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin was having an interaction with Club Prairie Fire podcast. Ashwin recalled the early days of IPL and said that he wanted to learn from the big stars and said that IPL is huge. Ravichandran Ashwin pointed out that the sport takes a backstage during the IPL as the players do a practicing in advertisement shoots and sets. Ashwin stated that IPL is largely won at the auctions.
“As a youngster coming into the IPL, I was only looking to learn from the big stars, I did not think about how the IPL would look 10 years down the line. I can say that, having been in the IPL for so many seasons, the IPL is huge,” said Ravichandran Ashwin.
“Sometimes I wonder if IPL is even cricket, because sport takes a backstage (during IPL). It’s so huge. We do end up practicing in advertisement shoots and sets! That’s where the IPL has gotten to,” he stated
“No one envisaged the kind of growth that the IPL has had. I still remember a conversation I had with Scott Styris when we were both at CSK. He told me that when he was playing for the Deccan Chargers in the initial seasons of IPL, he did not think the IPL would last for more than two-three years. Initially, there was a big influx of money,” he added.
“Look, over the years you’d think that the IPL is one tournament that is largely won at the auctions. I believe the auctions are a very important facet of this league, but the beauty of the IPL is that franchises have evolved into getting their teams right There’s no one way to skin a cat. No one player is bigger than the team. No one slot is bigger than others. The teams invest wisely,” he concluded.