One good game in Maharaja Trophy may be enough to attract IPL contract: Shreyas Gopal

The IPL may be done and dusted for this year, and the focus for the majority of the Indian cricket family has shifted towards the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia in October and November. Nonetheless, the Karnataka State Cricket Association is very busy, opening doors for more cricketers in the state to showcase their talents at the domestic level with the inaugural edition of the Maharaja Trophy.

And while the tournament, which was unveiled by India’s 1983 World Cup-winning cricketer Roger Binny, is hoping to become the stepping stone for emerging stars from Karnataka, the presence of senior pros can only augur well for the competition.

One of Karnataka’s most recognized cricketers now, leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal will also be part of the Maharaja Trophy, and he expects to see huge array of talented players showing off their wares in August in Mysore and Bengaluru.

“There are a lot of cricketers who have sprung out in the state. There are some players who weren’t in the reckoning some years ago but are knocking on the door of the senior team now. In that sense, it will be exciting to see a lot of these players. They are also definitely going to have scouts who will be watching them for the future. You never know, one good game or a few good ones, and you might just grab that IPL contract,” Shreyas said.

Shreyas, who has been part of Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, has also turned out for Bengaluru Blasters, Namma Shivamogga, Mysuru Warriors and Hubli Tigers in previous years in the erstwhile Karnataka Premier League, which has been relaunched as the Maharaja Trophy from 2022.

“I am very excited to be part of this and to finally see the Maharaja Trophy happening is great news. This is just a stepping stone for a lot of players in the state of Karnataka, for the IPL and possibly for the Indian team,” Shreyas said on the sidelines of a promotional event.

As a spinner, you will be targeted by batters, says Gopal

The experienced leg-break bowler will be one of the most watched cricketers in the T20 tournament, and he explained that in the shortest format of the game, one of the most important qualities for a spinner is a big heart.

“As a spinner the one thing I have been taught is you need to have a big heart because every batter target spinners, and you will be targeted. Batters will look to take you on and score big against you, but you need to have a big heart and come in with more aggression after that. You also need to understand the conditions and bowl smartly to get that extra dot ball or wicket.”

“Spinners are capable of taking three wickets in an over and there’s more chances for wickets in death bowling, but you also can get hit a lot more. As a bowler, trying to assess conditions beforehand helps, small things like that is what will give you the edge or that magic over.”

And there’s few better than Shreyas to talk about getting the edge over batters in difficult situations. After all, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers were his first two wickets in 2019 when he got a hat-trick for the Rajasthan Royals while going up against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Australian Marcus Stoinis was Shreyas’ third victim on the day.

Looking back, Shreyas said that things could have turned out very differently had he not adjusted himself a little in the conditions. “I knew every ball was like a free-hit and I just didn’t want to get hit for sixes, that was my plan. I knew they had to come hard at me and I had only two fielders on the shorter side. The odds were stacked against me. But since I have played here a lot, I understood the wicket and conditions better, and realised that I had to bowl a little more overspin than pushing it through. That helped me, but on another day those deliveries could have gone out of the park against such world class batters,” the right-arm spinner signed off.

How many more batters will Shreyas bamboozle in the Maharaja Trophy, or will they read the conditions better than the experienced spinner?

The three-week-long extravaganza is all set to begin on 7th August and go on till 26th and will see six teams battle it out for top honours. The games will be broadcast on Star Sports 2, Star Kannada and Fancode. The tournament will be held in two phases, first in Mysore and then in Bengaluru.