Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is not just a cricketer; he is a great thinker as well. As per Ashwin, Indian Premier League (IPL) has grown so ‘huge’ that at times cricket itself takes a backseat with players finding it hard to juggle between training and advertisement shoots.
“As a youngster coming into the IPL, I was only looking to learn from the big stars. I did not think about how the IPL would look 10 years down the line. I can say that, having been in the IPL for so many seasons, the IPL is huge,” he said during a podcast.
“Sometimes I wonder if IPL is even cricket, because sport takes a backstage during IPL. It’s so huge. We do end up practising in advertisement shoots and sets! That’s where the IPL has gotten to,” said Ashwin who is an important part of Rajasthan Royals squad.
Reflecting upon the early days of IPL, Ashwin said that no one envisaged the kind of growth that the IPL has had.
“Look, over the years you’d think that the IPL is one tournament that is largely won at the auctions. I believe the auctions are a very important facet of this league, but the beauty of the IPL is that franchises have evolved into getting their teams right,” said Ashwin.
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“There’s no one way to skin a cat. No one player is bigger than the team. No one slot is bigger than others. The teams invest wisely,” he added.