IPL 2019: A breeding ground for overseas players to strike form ahead of the World Cup

The 12th edition of the Indian Premier League is into its third week. By the end of the day, each team would have played four matches except for the Delhi Capitals, who have played five matches already.

Early indications in this year’s IPL is that overseas players have dominated the tournament. Which raises the question of whether this edition of IPL is acting as a breeding ground for overseas players to strike form ahead of the 50-over World Cup in England.

Though the IPL and the World Cup are different formats played in different conditions, the form and confidence of the players going into the World Cup will have a huge impact on the fate of the participating nations.

In this article, let us discuss whether this year’s IPL offers more opportunity for overseas players to find form ahead of the World Cup.

Performances of Overseas Batsmen in IPL 2019

The top three spots for the most number of runs scored in this year’s IPL have been occupied by overseas batsmen David Warner (264), Jonny Bairstow (246) & Andre Russell (159). Rishabh Pant (158) and Shikhar Dhawan (152) are occupying the fourth and fifth position respectively after playing five matches. Chris Gayle (139) and Jos Buttler (139) are also among the top 10 run scorers of this year’s IPL.

This year’s IPL has provided much-needed match practice for both David Warner and Steve Smith after a long lay-off. Bairstow playing in his first IPL season is in tremendous form.

On the contrary, top Indian batsmen who would be definitely part of the World Cup squad like Rohit Sharma (107), K.L. Rahul (91), Virat Kohli (78) and Kedar Jadhav (106) haven’t gotten going yet.

The doubtful starters for the World Cup, Ambati Rayadu (34) and Dinesh Karthik (53) are at the bottom of the table. However, fringe players like Shreyas Iyer (148), Prithvi Shaw (141) and Sanju Samson (140) have shown good form so far. While Sanju Samson scored the only century by an Indian batsman in this IPL, Shaw missed that landmark by a solitary run.

Performances of Overseas Bowlers in IPL 2019

Sam Curran's hat-trick would enhance his chances of selection for England(Image Courtesy IPL T20/BCCI)

The Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal occupies the top spot amongst the highest wicket-takers with eight wickets. However, the next five positions are occupied by overseas batsmen, Imran Tahir (7), Dwayne Bravo (7), Kagiso Rabada (7), Mohammad Nabi (6) and Sam Curran (6). Sam Curran did no harm to his confidence and prospects by taking a hat-trick against Delhi Capitals.

Amongst the Indian Internationals, Mohammad Shami has taken five wickets while Jasprit Bumarh, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja are all on four wickets. Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Umesh Yadav are all languishing at the bottom of the table with two wickets each.

While doubtful starters for the World Cup like Ishant Sharma (4) and Mohammad Siraj (4) have done reasonably well, the other prospects like Siddarth Kaul (3) and Shardul Thakur (2) haven’t exactly covered themselves with glory.

What is more alarming is the economy rate of the Indian bowlers in IPL 2019. Bhuvi has an economy of 9.20 while Hardik Pandya has 9.78, Shami has 9.12 and Kuldeep Yadav 9.10. Only Jadeja (5.91), Yuzvendra Chahal (6.56) and Jasprit Bumrah (7.02) have better economy rates.

On the other hand, the overseas bowlers like Mohammad Nabi (4.00), Imran Tahir (5.50) and Rabada (8.03) have an excellent economy rate. The Indian bowlers who are not in contention for the World Cup like Shreyas Gopal (5.58), Deepak Chahar (5.13) and veteran Harbhajan Singh (6.25) have done exceptionally well.

The performance of Virat Kohli the leader

The biggest worry for India ahead of the World Cup is whether the losing form of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2019 will affect the leadership of Virat Kohli in the World Cup. RCB under Kohli has lost their way and lost the winning habit in IPL.

Though Virat Kohli the batsman is far too good to be affected by his performances in IPL, it would definitely affect his confidence and outlook as India’s captain in the World Cup. The sooner RCB start winning matches, the better the chance of preventing that from happening.

To sum up, IPL in the past has helped to shape up the careers of so many overseas players. In fact, a player with the talent of David Warner was first identified by the Delhi think-tank before the Australian selectors. Judging by the performances of the players in the first two weeks of this year’s IPL, it seems the IPL might end up doing more favours to overseas players ahead of the World Cup in terms of form, confidence and match practice.

Without prejudice to the fact that IPL is a different format, it would certainly have an impact on the selection and performance of the overseas players in the World Cup.