Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar said instead of blaming the players for the T20I debacle, attention should be on addressing issues in the IPL, while selectors should pick players without the “IPL make-up” as India will play a lot of cricket overseas. The defending champions endured a forgettable tour, losing 0-2 to Ireland before suffering a 0-4 drubbing at the hands of England in the five-match T20I series, with the opening match being washed out. It was India’s first T20I series or tournament defeat in three years.
“The easy thing would be is to hold players responsible for this overseas T20 setback. The right thing would be is to hold those responsible who have made IPL such, that it puts a heavy make up on Indian batters,” Manjrekar wrote on ‘X’. “Challenge is for the selectors to imagine Indian batters without the heavy IPL make up on & pick only those for India. A lot of T20 cricket will be overseas now. The home fun run is over.”Following the T20 series, India will play three ODIs in England, followed by the Zimbabwe tour for a three-match T20I series starting from July 23. The defending champions will also tour New Zealand in October-November for a series, comprising five T20s and five ODIs besides two Tests.
The IPL has often been criticised for offering batting-friendly pitches with limited assistance for bowlers, encouraging power-hitting over traditional stroke-making. Critics have also argued that smaller boundaries and batting-friendly conditions encourage a power-hitting approach at the expense of building an innings, particularly when the ball moves in overseas conditions. The impact player rule has also been criticised for hindering the growth of quality allrounder as teams routinely substitute a specialist batter for a specialist bowler. Former wicketkeeper batter Parthiv Patel also recently blamed the IPL’s “Impact Player” rule for the all-rounder crisis.
