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Monday, April 26, 2010

Does the IPL really need more foreign players?

Season 3 of the Indian Premier League has come to an end and we look back at the increased influence of Indian players in the tournament in contrast with the previous editions where a lot of the teams depended on their overseas players to pull them through.

In the first two editions of the league, overseas players dominated the standings at the end of the tournament with a majority of the leading wicket-takers and run-scorers being foreign players. But the tables look very different this season as eight out of 10 leading wicket-takers as well as seven out of the top 10 run-getters this season are Indians. This is a clear indication that local players have come to terms with and caught up with the rigours of the fast format, over the two-year period and made significant contributions in their team’s success.


(Standings as of 23rd April 2010)

A great majority of runs for most teams this season were scored by their domestic signings and clearly the teams for whom the Indian players have performed better seem to be in a much stronger position. The table below shows a comparison of the percentage of runs that were scored by Indian players in each team out of the total runs that the top-5 run getters managed to amass. The table clearly indicates that the two finalists Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings managed to go all the way in the tournament because their local players have taken up more of the responsibility as compared to the other teams and made valuable contributions.


(Standings as of 23rd April 2010)

Stars in the making:

The Indian Premier League has also provided a platform for some local youngsters to showcase their talent and they have shown that they are capable of performing on the big stage against some reputed players from the international arena. The following table compares five of the top batsmen from the IPL, who have never played ODIs or T20Is for India but have outperformed their international teammates by some distance.


(Standings as of 23rd April 2010)

Murali Vijay’s explosive side was there for all to see and has resulted in him being picked for India’s T20 World Cup squad to replace Virender Sehwag. Saurabh Tiwary, Ambati Rayudu, Naman Ojha and Tirumalsetti Suman performed extremely well for their sides through the season while their International stars’ performances were well below expectation.

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