MSK Prasad talks about the importance of IPL helping players prepare for the World Cup 2019

The Indian team, captained by Virat Kohli, is currently preparing for the five-match ODI series against Australia which will start on March 2 in Hyderabad. Earlier, India had lost both the T20I matches against Australia, losing a white-ball series at home for the first time since 2015. This ODI series will be Team India’s last international engagement before the ICC World Cup 2019.

The series will be followed by the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 which begins on March 23. There have been calls for the potential members of the Indian team that will feature in the World Cup to give the IPL 2019 a miss in order to stay fit for the mega event. However, the BCCI chief selector MSK Prasad thinks differently.

Players should feature in IPL

The Indian players are bound to go to straight for the World Cup from the IPL 2019, as the league is likely to end 15 days before the commencement of the World Cup. There are concerns about the workload of the Indian players who will participate in the World Cup including stars like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and the fast bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, who all have been injured at one point of time and had their workloads monitored closely by the management.

The chief selector of the Indian team, MSK Prasad, however, at the India Today Conclave 2019 on Friday, said that the IPL provides the youngsters to play in high-pressure situations which will help them in the upcoming mega ICC event.

“I have a different view on IPL. It’s an Indian international tournament. Rather than sitting and training, this IPL offers a competitive atmosphere,” Prasad said. Prasad went on to give the examples of the two editions of ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 and 2017, both of which was were held in England and Wales, with India winning the 2013 edition under the leadership of MS Dhoni and reaching the finals in 2017 under the captaincy of Virat Kohli.

Both of these tournaments were held after the conclusion of IPL and saw the team and players do well, as Shikhar Dhawan won the golden bat in both tournaments, while Ravindra Jadeja won the golden ball in the 2013 edition. “We did well in the 2013 Champions Trophy because we played in the IPL,” Prasad said.

Answering the query of bowlers’ fitness during the IPL, Prasad pointed out that there may not be that much of a pressure on bowlers, given that they will be required to bowl just four overs per match in the T20 league.

“A normal bilateral series will not offer that much competitive environment. It’s just going to be about four overs [for bowlers] What’s more important is other than 4 overs, how are they going to maintain their fitness. So IPL is going to be important,” Prasad said.

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