Players don't try as much hard in international cricket when IPL is round the corner: Sunil Gavaskar

Veteran cricketer and commentator Sunil Gavaskar has opined that some players  ‘don’t try hard’ when playing for their country if the Indian Premier League (IPL) is around. The legendary batter also expressed that IPL is a career-changing tournament and the players need to ensure they remain fully fit to participate in the T20 league, and enjoy the “security that an IPL contract guarantees”.

The 2022 IPL is expected to start in the last week of March and is scheduled to run till May end. BCCI is planning to conduct the entire tournament on just one venue in Mumbai, which has multiple grounds and avoid travel and the debacle of the 2021 edition. Along with the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai also has two other grounds that have hosted international matches: the Brabourne Stadium and the DY Patil stadium.

In his column writing for The Times of India, Gavaskar wrote that people were more interested in the two-day IPL 2022 mega auction than the recently concluded three-match ODI series against West Indies.

“The auction is a life-changing one for all the players as it opens doors to a secure future for them and their families. That can also lead to some to not try as hard when playing for their country, especially when the IPL is round the corner, so to speak,” Gavaskar wrote

IPL is a perfect platform to prove national selectors wrong: Gavaskar   

Gavaskar wrote, “For those who were unlucky, it’s an opportunity to prove that it was a mistake not to pick them, and with more matches and teams in the IPL, there is always an opportunity to be a replacement player.”

“This is to ensure that there is no injury that will prevent them from being fit for the IPL and missing out on the security that an IPL contract guarantees. So the diving and sliding, or the hard throws from the deep, are not attempted for fear of doing some damage that will mean withdrawal from the IPL,” he added.