Former Indian skipper, Rahul Dravid strongly believes that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is “ready for expansion” in terms of an increase in the number of teams without compromising on the quality of the cash-rich league. There are talks that the 2021 IPL will be featuring nine franchises instead of eight and will go up to 10 teams by 2023, which has always been the BCCI’s long-term plan.
During the sidelines of the virtual launch of Rajasthan Royals co-owner Manoj Badale’s book, Dravid said, “I feel IPL is ready for expansion in terms of talent, if you look from talent perspective. There are a lot of talented players who are not getting an opportunity to play. So I believe we are ready as there are a lot of new names and faces in terms of talent perspective.”
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Badale, as a stakeholder in the IPL, welcomed the idea of expansion and also spoke about various aspects that needs to be factored in. On the other hand, Dravid also explained why Mumbai Indians have been such a prolific team and the reason behind them winning five titles.
Rahul Dravid elaborated, “They (MI) have a strong core with a high quality. Their core is built with world class T20 players and balanced it with young exciting talent. Earlier, you only depended on your state association to select you for Ranji Trophy. So it’s no longer limited to state associations. As coaches, we can help the young players in their journeys but what helps them grow is experience.”
The last decade (2011-2020), according to Dravid, has been India’s best in terms of limited-overs cricket and the IPL has contributed with its appropriate tagline ‘talent meets opportunity’.
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Explaining the same, Dravid said, “It has been India’s best performing decade in white ball cricket. We won a World Cup (2011), Champions Trophy (2013) and reached semi-finals and finals of World T20. Young players have learnt a lot watching and listening to experts on TV.”
