IPL 10: Indian selectors opt to skip IPL action

The Indian Premier League is arguably the most popular T20 league in the world. It will not be wrong to say that IPL has given the Indian cricket a whole new dimension in the world of cricket. The tournament spans for about 2 months every year and is known for having some biggest names on the roster along with promising youngster.

As the motto of the tournament reads – ‘where talent meets opportunity’ – the tournament has been known to unearth some of the new promising stars in Indian cricket. Over the last 9 editions of the tournament, several players have found the IPL to be the stepping stone towards success. The likes of Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel have risen to prominence from the IPL.

Amidst this situation, one would expect the national selectors to be keeping a close eye on the IPL this year as well. However, as per the recent reports in the Hindustan Times, the national selectors of Indian cricket team have decided to skip the T20 carnival this month. They are rather keen on focusing on the domestic tournaments to pick players for the future.

These tournaments include the Ranji Trophy, the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as the premier domestic tournaments of the three formats. While the move might seem prudent to some, it has come out as a bizarre move by the selectors. The 3-member selection panel headed by MSK Prasad has already been under the scrutiny for the reason that there are only 3 members to pick from the pool of as many as 1000 players.

The flawed working system and the selection panel conundrums have only left the crowds baffled. With the selectors missing the tournament, what would happen to the players who are emerging as top performers in front of huge audiences? For someone like Nitish Rana of Mumbai Indians, such things will bring no joy at all despite having played some superlative innings this season.

How do the players keep themselves motivated when they know that the ‘men who matter’ are not watching at all? The questions remain unanswered.