MUMBAI: Soon after defending champions India exited the 2009 T20 World Cup in England before the semis, then India head coach Gary Kirsten said the gruelling IPL, held a few months earlier in South Africa, had left his players “fatigued.”Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Kirsten stressed that if the cricket calendar continued to be so packed, players might have to be pulled out of the IPL before the next World T20.
Considering that MS Dhoni & Co had been on the road for quite a while then, Kirsten’s observation wasn’t off the mark. However, it also gave ammunition to those who would blame the IPL every time India lost on the cricket field.The South African was gagged by the BCCI after that presser in Nottingham.Almost 17 years on, perceptions around the IPL have changed, thanks to Team India clinching back-to-back titles at the 2024 and 2026 T20 World Cups.In white-ball cricket, particularly T20s, the IPL has become India’s biggest ‘USP’.The batch that just triumphed in the T20 World Cup is essentially an IPL generation of players who grew up watching and playing in the league.Starting with captain Suryakumar Yadav, it’s a team of IPL T20 specialists.That’s one reason India looked a cut above the rest, racing to 250-plus scores thrice in the tournament — twice in the knockouts.“It has bridged the gap between domestic and international cricket, which wasn’t the case earlier. Players now understand how to adapt and execute under pressure, something that was lacking before the IPL. They now respond well to pressure and even thrive under it,” former India leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule, who earlier served as spin-bowling coach of Rajasthan Royals (2018-21 and last year) and will take up the same role with Punjab Kings in IPL-2026, told TOI.Bahutule said the narrative has completely changed for batters.“They don’t play safe cricket now. It’s about being aggressive and taking on the bowler. They don’t worry about who’s bowling. They watch the ball and hit it. Each batter has a role in the IPL. Openers know they have to go hard in the powerplay. Within the powerplay too, there are phases — say the first two overs and the next two — and batters understand how to push.”Surely, the league has helped bowlers, too.Says Bahutule, “Bowling has become tougher because there are often 200-plus scores in the IPL. But it also encourages bowlers to be innovative and fearless. As you saw, Arshdeep Singh had a plan to bowl wide yorkers and stuck to it even though he bowled three or four wides. Eventually, he got a wicket,” he said.The ex-tweaker also believes that in recent years, overseas players have started learning from Indian cricketers rather than the other way around.“Players like Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan express themselves fearlessly. Unlike other teams, India was hitting 250 totals comfortably. Abhishek’s attitude tells you all about the IPL generation — these guys don’t fear anything. They just come and attack. If you’ve played in front of thousands in the IPL, a similar crowd in an international game doesn’t intimidate you,” Bahutule said.Echoing the views, former India batsman Pravin Amre, assistant coach at Delhi Capitals from 2015-24, said the league plays a huge role in shaping players’ temperament.“The IPL gives players a platform where they don’t feel like they are playing in a World Cup. It helps create the ‘character’ of players because the pressure of winning every game is massive,” Amre said.Praising the league further, Amre added, “The IPL helps build champion players. Apart from that one loss to South Africa by 76 runs, the way we were playing, other teams were nowhere close to us. The IPL has contributed to that kind of dominance.”Two long-time officials of IPL franchises also told TOI that the league’s vast talent pool continues to fuel Indian cricket’s success.“The IPL has become the funnel of talent. It’s probably the biggest cricket talent pool any country could dream of. Youngsters get opportunities to compete against top internationals, which prepares them to wear the national colours without fear,” said Satish Menon, CEO of Punjab Kings.“The world knows that Indian cricket’s success in white-ball cricket comes from the IPL. The ability to absorb pressure and thrive in intense situations comes from it. The IPL has changed the dynamics of T20 cricket,” said Gujarat Titans COO Arvinder Singh.“When the IPL started in 2008, 160 was a winning score. Then it moved to around 175. Even that looked difficult to chase then. Anything above eight runs an over seemed out of reach, and 10 an over meant the match was almost lost,” Singh said.“Now, even if you’re chasing 225, bringing it down to 60 off the last four overs is considered doable. The players, pitches and stadiums are the same — it’s the mindset that has changed.”Linking it to India’s World Cup success, Singh said, “All these players know they’ve done it many times in the IPL, which is why the Indian team doesn’t buckle under scoreboard pressure.There’s so much competition in the IPL — 74 matches, 10 teams and top players. Sometimes an IPL team’s bowling attack is stronger than an international side’s.Because of the IPL, India is ahead of the curve,” he stressed.
