Chennai, May 20: Former India opener Gautam Gambhir loves the IPL, and the quality of cricket it produces, but doesn’t want the franchise-based T20 league to become the pathway to the Indian team for youngsters.
Speaking on Ravichandran Ashwin’s YouTube show, Kutti Stories with Ash, Gambhir said, “The bigger concern that arises is about how many youngsters want to play Test cricket for India. I hope the IPL is not a shortcut to play for India.”
The Kolkata Knight Riders team mentor also asserted that the IPL has benefitted the Indian domestic cricketers.
“Today, when I look at international T20 sides, apart from 2-3 teams, I don’t see enough competition when it comes to playing for India,” he said.
“Not many teams can match the quality that India has. So, I feel that in today’s day and age, IPL has become far more competitive than international T20 cricket.
“Just the quality of the domestic players has changed, the way domestic players want to play in the IPL and the way they work around T20 cricket – I think most of their focus is on playing T20 cricket,” the World Cup winner added. (PTI)
