The problem with IPL's heroes

The problem with IPL's heroes

Rahul Sharma has a first-class average of 44.64 - does one good IPL season justify his place in the national team?© AFP

Picture this. A boy and a girl, both in their teens, are walking through a marketplace after a late-night movie. It’s a windy night, the sort that distracts the senses from approaching danger. Out of nowhere, a goon appears and attempts to harrass. The boy grabs a discarded bottle and breaks it over the goon’s head, knocking him out. The battle is won. Woken up by the confusion, a grocer emerges from his store, takes in the scene and hails the boy as a hero.

Is the boy really that big a hero? It surely doesn't mean he is ready to enter the ring to take on Evander Holyfield the following day. Logic would suggest that. However, logic and the IPL don’t necessarily go together.

The moolah the IPL has raked in is impressive and the number of heroes it has created, exaggerated. There have been four seasons now, the fifth one is on its way and still, sadly, there are few players who have emerged from the IPL and set the international stage alight. Worse, some have been given international stints prematurely.

There’s no denying the IPL provides a platform for youngsters to showcase their skills but often that’s where the hydraulics should stop. Had Paul Valthaty scored one more century in the last season of the IPL, there would have been some saying he was deserving of an India cap. The question is not whether players like him possess the talent. It's whether they have done enough to warrant an international cap. Dishing out a half-cooked meal to a visitor is not the best way to earn a reputation, and the selectors have done exactly that by handing national caps to young players based on their two months – or less – of glory.

Sadly, first-class cricket is no more the yardstick of brilliance, it’s just a backdrop to the main stage of the IPL. If Indian cricket is to evolve, this has to change. Rahul Sharma made it to the Indian team after one good season in the IPL. Is this a justifiable selection? A spinner gets to hone his wicket-taking skills and develop his abilities only in the longer format, not through four-over spells. For now, Sharma’s first-class record reads 12 matches and 25 wickets at 44.64. Surely, he needed more time on the domestic circuit? By pushing him into the international arena this early, you risk losing out on a potential future prospect, that too at a time when India is still searching for a quality spinner.

R Ashwin could be one of the few success stories to have come out of the IPL, but it pains me to see him going on a tour and coming out as the third-best batsman for India while averageing 62.77 with the ball. The fact that his current bowling average in Tests hovers around the 35-mark along with his batting average tells a story. It would appear that an overdose of Twenty20 cricket has resulted in him becoming a wicket-taking bowler only when batsmen try to attack him, not when they know they can see him off.

Then again, international cricket is about consistency. Of course Sharma, Valthaty, Ashwin, Yusuf Pathan, M Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja and Saurabh Tiwary are all talented players and could take apart a world-class side on their day. But can they do it for three consecutive seasons or even five consecutive days twice over?

You can’t help but feel these players are all still boys, who haven’t grown into men; they have beaten the local goons, but have failed in the prize fights.