IPL is very important financially and for players’ future as well, claims Jonty Rhodes
Kings XI Punjab fielding coach Jonty Rhodes believes that the Indian Premier League offers a great deal to players financially, which is very important for players as well. Rhodes has also commented that the local nature of the IPL makes it a more feasible solution in 2020 than the T20 World Cup.
While many people privy to the developments have commented that the T20 World Cup is a no show this summer, with Sourav Ganguly announcing that the Asia Cup stands cancelled already, there has been an increased certainty about the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League happening in a cramped manner in October-November.
Jonty Rhodes, who has been a regular in the T20 league since its inception, stated that the tournament is very important from a financial stand-point and it is very difficult to think of passing the year without the IPL.
"It is very difficult to think of passing the year without the IPL. It has been an integral part of the cricket calendar since 2008. From the very beginning, BCCI tries to stage IPL every year," Rhodes told IANS.
"IPL is also very important financially and regarding the future of the players as well. The best players in the world play in it. So it is hard to imagine a year passing without it. To me it is meaningless to expect the cricket calendar without an IPL.”
"Hopefully by the end of the year, the situation will improve and we can watch the IPL. We know that it will be played in empty stadiums. This time it will be for TV. It will be interesting to see how TV producers create an atmosphere without an audience," he added.
Considering the IPL will eat up the T20 World Cup calendar once the Australian edition is postponed by a year, there have been questions about how India will be able to host the tournament with virus spread getting berserk. However, Rhodes expressed that the logistics for a local event is less challenging than a global one.
"In IPL, it will be that the players will come from outside, they will be quarantined, the teams will get tested, but the fans in the IPL will be from India. Whereas with the World Cup, it is the fans of other teams who will also come to watch the match. It would be very difficult to stage the tournament in such a situation. The Olympics has also been postponed due to this pandemic. Looking at the current situation, I think there are dark clouds in the T20 World Cup," he added.
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