Former Indian cricketer Kirti Azad has appreciated the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the fair selection by the team owners.
Azad who was in the city for a private function was interacting with media persons on Saturday.
Azad further said as compared to state teams, only outstanding cricketers are being selected on the basis of their performance in the events like IPL. “ I like IPL for its selection. Only deserving players get opportunity in the IPL. On the contrary in the state teams there are chances favouritism during selection The son of IAS, IPS officers or any minister can get selected but that is not the case in IPL.
Politician turned cricketer Azad who has played seven Test matches and 25 ODIs for India also said it is wrong to say that the players from rural are lagging behind as they are not getting enough opportunities in the country. Nowadays there are different agencies in cricket which are always in search of talented cricketers. If someone performs well, then they give him opportunity and Indian pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah is a great example of this. Azad further said the game of cricket is the same but nowadays its style and rules have changed. "In old days, the coaches used to ask the players to play the ground shots but now the players like to play in the air. Earlier there used to be Test and 60 overs Ond-day matches. But then ODIs have been reduced to 50 overs and now T-20 format of the cricket has become popular. Now the cricket has become more spicy and entertaining”, he said.