Former England cricketer Owais Shah believes that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is probably the biggest tournament in the world as it has the most followers.
IPL has been popular worldwide since its inception in 2008. As time progressed, the followers of this tournament had continuously grown worldwide.
Many have claimed that IPL has played a special positive role in the growth of world cricket. Not only the Indian cricketers but the foreign cricketers also see this tournament as a special competition.
Shah has also the same feeling about the IPL. He believes that the most followed IPL is the cricketing carnival in world cricket. Talking about it, he pointed out the availability of financial rewards along with the top competitions.
Owais Shah said according to Sky Sports, “It’s probably the biggest tournament in the world, the most followed. If you look at countries like America, apparently that is the country where the IPL is followed the most outside of India. Then you throw in the financial rewards that are on offer for the players and when you put that together as a package, it is a great, great competition and that is what makes it so big. When you are involved in it, it is something that you do not experience anywhere else in the world.”
Shah also experienced the IPL as he played it between 2010 and 2013. In IPL career, he played for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Kochi Tuskers Kerala (KTK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR). The right-handed batsman scored 506 runs in 23 IPL matches (average 33.73), including four half-centuries.
Owais Shah also talked about how the English cricketers improved due to IPL:
Talking more about the IPL, Shah pointed out how the English cricketers have improved after experiencing the IPL. He took the names of Eoin Morgan, Jonny Bairstow and Jofra Archer.
Shah added, “Eoin Morgan has played a lot of IPL cricket, Jonny Bairstow has done really well in the last couple of years then you’ve got Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and all these guys have really benefitted from playing T20 cricket in the IPL.”
IPL 2020 will be the 13th edition of this cash-rich tournament. According to the tentative schedule, the upcoming season will begin on 29th March, and the league stage will be played till 17th May.