The old man's IPL
Richard Lord, writing in the Wall Street Journal , tells us why older players have become a such an important feature of the IPL.
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
Richard Lord, writing in the Wall Street Journal, tells us why older players have become a such an important feature of the IPL.
It wasn't supposed to be like this — whizz-bang Twenty20 looks very much like a young man's game. But shorter game length and the IPL's seven-week season mean it's less physically demanding than other forms of the game...
Older players are attractive to IPL teams because the concentrated format makes every ball that much more important, and therefore makes a clear head, psychological strength and a mental database of information about similar situations correspondingly more important too. They're also useful in an unofficial coaching capacity, mentoring younger players. And, last but very far from least, they're attractive because they're famous.
Nikita Bastian is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo