MS Dhoni has described the IPL as a step towards maturity for the upcoming youngsters of India, who get a chance to play with the international cricketers.
The Indian Premier league was launched by the ‘Board of Control for Cricket in India’, way back in 2008, as a professional Twenty20 league. It has become one of the most popular tournaments in the world and is being followed by the cricket lovers all around the globe. The cricketers from all international teams feel pride when they participate in the thrilling encounters and they are paid lucrative amounts to represent different teams.
The following nine teams participate in the event,
1 – Mumbai Indians
2 – Royal Challengers Bangalore
3 – Deccan Chargers
5 – Delhi Daredevils
6 – Kings XI Punjab
8 – Rajasthan Royals
The tournament is played on a double round-robin basis which includes knockout stages as well and a bulk of Indian future stars are included in the teams along with the national and international cricketers. The IPL has inspired the youngsters all across the country and they get involved in the games with the renowned and world fame cricketers which provide them enough confidence and experience.
The Indian team has been playing a lot of international cricket until recently but while playing in the IPL, the players do not represent their country but still all of them are delighted to represent their respective teams and don’t feel exhausted. Dhoni narrated the importance of IPL by saying,
“I don’t think fatigue will be a real factor. We all enjoy playing the IPL; that’s one format where you are not representing your country, and the span of the tournament is slightly longer so you play quite a few games. It’s a different exposure. I always felt the platform was good for youngsters because they get to play with some of the best international cricketers. It helps you get a bit fitter also.”
The Indian team has arrived in Johannesburg to play one-off T20 against South Africa which is scheduled to be played on March 30, 2012 at New Wanderers Stadium. Almost all Blue Shirt players have taken part in the IPL. Dhoni was pleased with the arrangements of their short trip by the host which is reciprocal as the Proteas get the same honours when they visit India. He commented,
“In South Africa the sports are managed really well. When a team comes everything is in place and in order. In the same way, when it comes to India, the management, the airlines and the hotels, they go out of their way to make the players comfortable.”
Indian T20 Squad Against South Africa
MS Dhoni (captain)
Virat Kohli (vice-captain)
Robin Uthappa
Gautam Gambhir
Rohit Sharma
Suresh Raina
Ravindra Jadeja
Manoj Tiwary
Irfan Pathan
Ravichandran Ashwin
Praveen Kumar
Vinay Kumar
Rahul Sharma
Yusuf Pathan
Ashok Dinda
The Indian coach Duncan Fletcher was convinced that the only T20 against South Africa will prove vital for the youngsters and they will be able to formulate a challenging side for the future.
After their return from South Africa, the players will participate in the IPL 2012 which will commence from April 4 and Dhoni believes that India will get many more youngsters for its national team after the conclusion of the fifth edition of the most popular event in the shortest version of cricket.
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