Indian Premier League: A talent-producing factory
Both Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav were discoveries of IPL
Indian Premier League since its onset, 10 years ago, has been a platform for the young cricketers to showcase their skills and to adapt to the competitive atmosphere along with the foreign players as their teammates.
Apart from few mishappenings such as match-fixing and other such incidents, IPL has been the favourite basket for the selectors for choosing the young talent and giving them a chance to play for the national team. The incentives of playing the IPL are far more enticing - not just money, which is huge, but also the exposure is unequalled.
Coaches of IPL teams like Rahul Dravid always have been the supporters of young budding cricketers. IPL can be compared to a fest where all the big names of the 21st century produce explosive performances thereby giving an indication to the national selectors of their skill set and fitness.
Even Virat Kohli could feel the impact of Ray Jennings, the then coach of RCB, and the presence of Jacques Kallis in the side which helped him immensely to evolve as a player. And he leads the Indian team across all formats. This is what IPL is capable of improving a cricketer.
Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, and Shardul Thakur are some of the refreshing finds of the IPL. Especially Pandya and Bumrah have been the consistent performers for the Indian team.
Hardik Pandya replaced Ravindra Jadeja in the Indian team. He has always performed consistently. Be it with the bat or the ball, he never fails to amuse his audience with his 'never giving up' spirit as witnessed by us in the ICC Champions Trophy Final (2017) against Pakistan.
Gone are the days when hundreds of ODI and Test matches along with consistent performances were the key factors for making into the Indian Cricket team. The selectors now have changed their approach by giving chances to budding cricketers at an early age when their exemplary performances grab the sight of the selectors. IPL has definitely improved the cricketers' mindset.
Many young faces like Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have replaced the frontline bowlers Ashwin and Jadeja in ODIs. This has been such an outcome of IPL, having paved a golden path for young lads to make their places into the Indian team.
The skill set of a player does increase when they get to play with big cricketers including the foreign cricketers. Playing domestic cricket is equally important for these cricketers. But their performances in these 'Big Tournaments' will always have a higher weight ratio for the selection criteria.