Print

[petehosk]

You cannot tell me some 17 year old who has played 2 first class games in India is going to be a better player than Luke Wright, Alex Hales or Craig Simmons?

It's funny you should mention those 3 names, as they were massive surprises that these 3 were not snapped up!
Hales is still rated as top 3 batsman, Wright has looked top class lately too! And Simmons has been incredible, and some of the most destructive batting I've seen this side of Gayle!

On a different note, does anyone know who which UK TV station will be showing the IPL this season?

[The_Bird]

ITV have the rights until 2014.

[mo_town]

If there was no quota on Indian players would the make up of the teams have changed?  I think so.  If the whole idea of the IPL is to be the 'premier' global T20 competition then it is failing. 

Imagine if the EPL side could only field 4 non English players... the competition would not be the global phenomenon it is now.

You cannot tell me some 17 year old who has played 2 first class games in India is going to be a better player than Luke Wright, Alex Hales or Craig Simmons?

Again, its the overall team composition..and the quota is in place to make sure that local talent is nurtured as well...there has to be a right balance. The English players are not competing against the local talent..they are competing against the global talent and falling short.

IPL has become the premier global T20 competition because of the amount of money and exposure involved. If given a choice, a player would opt to play in the IPL instead Eng T20, BBL etc etc..

[petehosk]

Excellent! I am unlikely to have Sky Sports from March until Summer, so if it's on an ITV channel, then happy days! 

[tushar sehgal]

Theory: Maybe english players were not picked because ECB and BCCI made a behind the scenes deal to ignore english players and that way the county comp would be more interesting?

A lot of Sri lankan's were ignored too, could it be because they were against the proposed ICC changes originally?

[smilley792]

Theory: Maybe english players were not picked because ECB and BCCI made a behind the scenes deal to ignore english players and that way the county comp would be more interesting?

A lot of Sri lankan's were ignored too, could it be because they were against the proposed ICC changes originally?

Sri Lankans availability for this tournament is less than the English, hence there lack of buying.(sangakarra pulled from this auction because of, he knew he'd get a low price if at all, where as now he can enter in 2015 and get a good price!)

But dilshan retired from test cricket to be available for entire tournament, and wasn't bought. Bet he's gutted. (Although his form and injury record in the bbl was bad)

[Cedrictoad]

Blame KP

Maybe KP has all of the IPL owners wives/mistresses/pool boys hostage in his secret KP lair somewhere inside a mountain!

Perfect revenge on all the people who said he was a selfish (No Swearing Please)!

[uknsaunders]

I have a habit of taking some leave around easter and have seen a fair bit of IPL games. Some of the local talent is awful, particularly in the field and some games are basically overseas v overseas. Not always and their have been some very decent Indian uncapped talent on show. However, having watched a fair bit of Big Bash/Eng t20 I wouldn't pick many of them over Aus/Eng county/state pro's.

Don't even get me started on the rigged Champions League event. If it was remotely based on local players I'd back an Aus State team to win every time. An English team will never get close to winning it without 4 overseas players like their Indian opponents.

[Cedrictoad]

I have a habit of taking some leave around easter and have seen a fair bit of IPL games. Some of the local talent is awful, particularly in the field and some games are basically overseas v overseas. Not always and their have been some very decent Indian uncapped talent on show. However, having watched a fair bit of Big Bash/Eng t20 I wouldn't pick many of them over Aus/Eng county/state pro's.

Don't even get me started on the rigged Champions League event. If it was remotely based on local players I'd back an Aus State team to win every time. An English team will never get close to winning it without 4 overseas players like their Indian opponents.

I would like to add that I have also watched the NZ t20 and Caribbean T20 competitions and the Eng/Aus sides are head and shoulders above the others... anybody seen the SAF comp?  The Cobras seem to do well in the Champions League... I am not sure if anyone has watched the Bangladeshi T20 league... maybe even in Bangladesh

[mo_town]

I agree that the local talent in the SA T20 and Aus T20 level is much better...which is why they are the primary hunting grounds for IPL franchises..but saying that the England T20 is at the same level as Aus/SA is just a joke..maybe they look good in isolation as there are no big international stars playing in Eng T20 to compare with.

The local talent in IPL is a mixed bag but there have been quite a few success stories..

[T-Rapta]

Sky Sports have secured the UK broadcasting rights to the IPL for $13.5 million a year !

[csnew]

Sky only bid because BT sport were interested

[The_Bird]

Sky only bid because BT sport were interested

Sky only bid because they are running out of sport to broadcast...!

Losing the Champions League will be a massive dent for them.

[smilley792]

I'm glad bt didn't win ipl!

Big cricket fan and big f1 fan. Also follow football.

I'm not going. To switch to bt as it doesn't have the cricket/f1 and dont want to be paying for both. So will miss out on football.

But if they had bought the ipl, then I'd have had to find someway to have both!



Got a feeling bt will get f1 once sky's contract runs out too. they've already took wrc off eurosports. And then improved it by showing love stages every day off the rally.

But will they ever be interested in Test cricket and England? Who knows but I think bt sports is the first real challange sky have either had!

[golden duck]

Diversion, but re BT sports.

Depending who your Internet is with you may be able to get BT sports.

I'm with plusnet and last renewal I called saying I was looking elsewhere so I could get BT sports. They threw it in free.  I didn't even know they offered it