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Aravinda de Silva credits Indian cricket team’s success to IPL and financial stability

Aravinda de Silva credited IPL for developing confidence in India's domestic players.

Aravinda de Silva © AFP
Aravinda de Silva © AFP

Former Sri Lanka skipper Aravinda de Silva has claimed that Indian cricket team is in good shape due to financial stability and current bunch successfully carrying forward the legacy left by former greats like Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev. However, de Silva also had some tips for ICC on how they can play a vital role in shaping the game. He stated that ICC should be transparent in their spending and fund projects which have a long-term purpose. The former Sri Lankan batsman accepted that Sri Lanka are no where close to India in the ongoing three-Test series, and they should work on rebuilding self-belief. On the other hand, he also credited IPL in developing the game in India’s grassroots levels.

‘ICC should act like World Banks’

“They are a well-balanced side, moving with confidence starting from the captain. It was the same situation when Sunil (Gavaskar) and Kapil (Dev) won the World Cup and gave a boost to Indian cricket and from there, Sachin (Tendulkar) and (MS) Dhoni took the team to the next level. To be able to sustain that and performing well, this team has that confidence gained from those great players. One sad thing is that to develop and be a (top) cricketing nation, you need to be financially strong. That is the part where the ICC should step in and look at it seriously and make sure that some of these (monetary) distributions are done in a manner where countries get a certain standard. To lift the level of coaching, we need to improve standards. It is like education; in schools now, sport has changed into a business and commercial venture.

“You need to look at it that way from the grassroots level. Kids and parents make sacrifices and they want to see something, they want them to go all the way and we need to give them some facilities, facilities for the children who are talented. The ICC needs to monitor and support some of the ventures. They should act like the World Bank, be transparent in what they spend and fund projects that have a purpose. Funds should be given for improving cricket and it should be done in a more meaningful manner. The ICC came and did a presentation to the (Sri Lanka Cricket) board but this sort of vision was lacking. The board should take it up. If there are value-propositions from the cricket board, they (ICC) might support it”, de Silva was quoted as saying by Wisden India.

‘That has given India a little edge over most of subcontinental countries’

Speaking about India gaining an edge over others. De Silva continued, “It’s a lot to do with confidence also because the IPL has obviously helped them to be playing against the best players in the world and that’s possible because they were able to bring in all these international players because of the monetary capability of the Indian cricket board. It’s a good thing for cricket and for the players to be able to have that opportunity, and for cricket in the future. But at the same time, they all bring in the best knowledge into one country because all the best coaches are available during the IPL. You get the best knowledge, the best competition, everything in one package. That enhances your talent from a very, very young age.

People even from the grassroots level, when they are picking teams, selections, they have to be up to a certain level, so they work hard. That has given India that little edge over most of the subcontinental countries. Again, it is because of the financial capabilities you have. So I guess credit to them for doing it and coming up with a concept such as that. Fantastic. India has got the market for it and they have made use of it. Australia and England, they have kept up with that because their abilities of raising funds is also quite good.

“That’s why I say that the ICC is the one who needs to come in and try and bring closer the gap with the rest of the world, create something and think out of the box to get them also to that level. That needs to be done with transparency, not to just dole out funds”, he concluded.

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