IPL 2018: 3 ways in which IPL has benefited global cricket

There is no denying that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the most exciting and innovative tournaments in cricketing history. Many will know the IPL for the lucrative amounts of money which cricketers can earn but the IPL's contribution to global cricket cannot be limited to the financial rewards which are on offer.

In fact, the IPL has been one of the most beneficial tournaments any cricketer can hope to play in even if they are not being paid hefty amounts of money. The unfortunate truth is that so much time and attention has been placed on looking at how much players are getting paid that the tournament's immense contribution towards developing young cricketers has been overlooked.

This article will take a deeper look at 3 different ways in which the IPL has benefited global cricket and why it is indeed a global tournament.

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#1 Domestic players receive exposure to international-level cricket

Many would argue that it is India's own domestic players who stand to gain the most when it comes to experience and exposure to international cricketers. While this may be true, there can be no denying that players from other countries have also gained more experience and exposure to international batsmen and bowlers through the IPL than with their own national sides.

This might sound like a very bold statement to make but it is a statement which is true. Taking a look at this year's tournament alone, we can take Aussie all-rounder D'Arcy short as a typical example.

Short turned heads during the Big Bash League in Australia where he was the tournament's highest run-scorer. He was then selected for Australia's T20 squad and continued his good form which saw him top the T20 batting charts for the most runs scored in 2018 in T20s.

Short has played a few internationals for Australia but the experience and exposure which he will be receiving while playing in this year's IPL will be invaluable. He will have the opportunity to face bowlers such as Sunil Narine - an opportunity which he is unlikely to experience in his international career anytime soon. He will also have the opportunity to bowl to batsmen such as Chris Gayle and Yuvraj Singh - which will undoubtedly be an experience which will prove to be most beneficial to the young man.

Short is just one of the many examples, but many other cricketers would be experiencing the same benefit. Not everyone gets the opportunity to play for their national side as often as they would like to and the IPL, therefore, gives these players a chance to still face international talents and quality players to ensure that they themselves keep growing and improving as players.

Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan has also made a name for himself in the IPL. The bowler has been one of the star performers of this year's tournament and has given him valuable experience of bowling in Indian conditions

#2 Overseas players get exposure to and experience in subcontinent conditions

One of the biggest issues which cricketing sides from countries such as Australia, England, and South Africa have always struggled with is their inability to adapt and cope with subcontinent conditions.

It is a weakness which these sides have accepted and work on improving over the past few years. To their credit, there have been players who have developed over the years and learned how to adapt to conditions in the subcontinent. One only needs to think about players such as AB de Villiers and Steven Smith as two examples of players who have learned to adapt their game to subcontinent conditions.

Before the IPL, getting exposure to subcontinent conditions would require teams to actually tour the subcontinent with their national side. The IPL now allows players an annual opportunity of playing in the subcontinent for roughly six weeks - something which has given rise to a tremendous improvement in the way in which touring sides play when they come over to India.

The benefit has not only been for the batsmen but for the bowlers as well. Fast bowlers have learned to adjust their line and length when bowling on Indian pitches, the quality of spinners from overseas countries has improved drastically over the years and young bowlers are getting valuable experience bowling on pitches which are different to what they are usually accustomed to.

In an interview with Times of India back in 2016, Eoin Morgan spoke about the way in which the IPL had helped him improve his game. When asked about how he had benefited from the IPL, the English batsman had this to say:

"The IPL has helped my game in a huge way. The first 2-3 years I came to the IPL, I saw my game improve immensely. Rubbing shoulders with the best players in the field, you gain a huge amount of confidence training alongside them, playing with them and seeking advice from them. I was lucky to play with the likes of Jacques Kallis, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and had the opportunity of watching them closely as they went about their business. As a youngster making his way into international cricket, it was a quite a big thing for me."

#3 Overseas players have improved against spin bowling

Spin bowlers have always seemed to get the better of batsmen from countries outside of the subcontinent. This is not entirely surprising given the fact that the pitches in countries such as South Africa, Australia, and England are more suited to fast bowlers and seam bowlers - something which has caused these countries to bolster their stock of fast bowlers and place less attention to spin bowlers.

There is a notion that spin bowlers are only effective in the subcontinent and this could not be more untrue. Spin bowlers have proven to be match winners for countries such as India and Pakistan when they tour away from the subcontinent and the cricketing world has recently seen proof of this during the recent ODI series between South Africa and India.

India's spin bowlers dominated the series with the South African batsmen struggling to find any answers. To be fair, South Africa had a string of injuries which led to many of their big-name players missing out, but the one common feature that most of the batsmen selected had was that they struggled against spin.

Had South Africa had their first-choice batsmen available, the series might have been very different. Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers have shown that they are both capable players of spin and having both of them in the side would have softened the impact which India's spinners would have had.

This is something which the IPL has provided a great deal of assistance with over the years. More and more overseas batsmen have been learning to play against spin in subcontinent conditions, as well as to score off spinners. Players such as Steven Smith and Kane Williamson are two further examples of individuals who are good players of spin - and the list of such players keeps growing.

New talents such as Heinrich Klaasen are also getting better exposure to spin bowling and learning to play the spinners in the subcontinent. This is something which he and others like himself will use to take their game to the next level and develop their batting into a more complete package.