|
There seems a lot more written about the Indian Premier League (IPL) than I know, because I have not thought or spoken about it with either Cricket Australia or anybody else recently.
At present, I am focused on this tri-series and am committing my energy and focus to doing well against India and Sri Lanka. These are my last few games for Australia and I would like to give them the respect they deserve.
I have come to realise the importance of the Twenty20 format in cricket and would like to be involved in it. This is a format for the future and the IPL could help launch this version in world cricket, just like the World Series in the late 1970s launched one-day cricket.
I understand the concerns of the various boards, who would not want to see promising careers being cut short by the league and am certain that the concerned boards will be able to handle the situation sensibly.
Coming back to the tri-series, the weather has affected both of India's games. It was raining in Melbourne as well, but hopefully we will get a game going today. We did visit the MCG yesterday, but the wicket was covered owing to frequent showers yesterday.
The wickets here have been low and slow right through summer and chances are that we will get a similar track for today's game.
Though they are yet to complete a game in the tournament, the Indians have batted twice, giving us a view of the young batsmen who have been picked for this tour.
Many of these youngsters used the T20 World Cup to showcase their ability and India's success in that tournament prompted the selectors to pick them for the one-day team as well.
Promising Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir is one such youngster. His knock against Sri Lanka at the 'Gabba' was as well constructed an innings as you would see. Some of the other youngsters had shown similar potential in the Future Cup last year and I remember Robin Uthappa who looked very impressive with the bat and on the field.
This young group has an aggressive, vibrant leader in Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who looked in ominous form against Sri Lanka.
I know there was some controversy when India picked a young team for this tri-series. However, Dhoni's argument - that whether or not he was captain, he wanted a group of 12-14 players who had 80-100 games before World Cup 2011 - makes a lot of sense. India are going in the right direction if they have a long-term goal in mind.
|
