The margin separating the uppermost and lowest teams in Indian Premier League is very small and that’s the reason Gautam Gambhir feels that IPL is the hardest of all other leagues in the world as well as biggest like any T20 World Cup.
KKR finished at the top of the table under Gambhir despite Rajasthan Royals leading the charts for majority of the season.
Four straight defeats and a washout pushed RR down to the third spot after the league phase of the season came to an end while five-time champions Mumbai Indians finished at the bottom of the table.
Gambhir also noted that every IPL team is strong hence anybody can win on a given day against anyone else.
“This is what makes IPL beautiful. That’s why we say it’s toughest tournament in world. It is also as big as any T20 World Cup. Because, there are very less margins between them. It’s impossible to say (who will win). You can’t predict in IPL. And there is not much difference between teams finishing in top four and not finishing in top four,” Gambhir told Sportskeeda.
Before IPL 2024, he made his return to KKR from mentoring Lucknow Super Giants for two seasons.
During that time, he captained KKR to two victories in 2012 and 2014 respectively
The left-hander recently said he adores IPL because it produces great cricket but does not want it being a direct pipeline into India for young players.
“What worries me more than anything else is how many youngsters want to play Test cricket for India? I just hope people don’t see it as an easy way into playing for Team India,” Gambhir said on Ravichandran Ashwin’s YouTube show.
The ex-Kolkata Knight Riders captain further added, “Today when I look at international T20 sides barring two-three ones, I do not see enough competition when it comes to playing for India.”
India’s quality is unmatched by any team, Gambhir maintains. Therefore, in the present times, the IPL has become more competitive than international T20 cricket.
“Just the quality of the domestic players has changed, the way domestic players want to play in the IPL and the way they work around T20 cricket — I think most of their focus is on playing T20 cricket.”
