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| SPORTS | | Aabhas Sharma / New Delhi November 16, 2008, 0:25 IST | |
Home-grown players are struggling to make their mark in the second season of ICL.
You won’t be blamed if you missed out on the so-called “rebel” cricket league — the Indian Cricket League’s (ICL) second season. With most eyeballs focused on the Test series between India and Australia, ICL was in the background.
This time around, although ICL was bigger and much better publicised, it had more or less the same line-ups as in the first season. The ICL has been at loggerheads with the BCCI over getting proper status and recognition for its players. In other words, give its players a chance to represent the country, don’t treat them as rebels.
This season of ICL was completely dominated by foreign players, with the top scorer and top bowler being foreign players. In fact, all the top three spots are occupied by foreign players. On the batting front, Hamish Marshall of the Royal Bengal Tigers dominated the charts with a total of 345 runs, at an average of close to 50. He was followed by Bangladesh’s Alok Kapali, who amassed 324 runs, and Pakistan’s Imran Farhat, who scored 293 runs.
On the bowling side, it’s a similar story. Pakistan’s Naved-ul-Hasan leads the charts with 20 wickets, followed by his teammate Saqlain Mushtaq with 14 wickets to his credit. Upul Chandana of Sri Lanka also had 14 wickets.
To be fair, as they say, statistics don’t reveal the complete picture. There have been some good performances by home-grown players such as Inder Sekhar Reddy of the Hyderabad Heroes, who picked up 14 wickets. And R Sathish, whom many tip as a future Indian cricket star, got 287 runs for the Chennai Superstars. Stuart Binny is another who has caught the eye of many.
The ICL needs a lot more than a few players doing well in their tournaments if it wants to make a strong case for its players. It’s good experience for the young sportsmen playing against the likes of Saqlain, Chris Harris and Lance Klusener.
The players, on the other hand, need to perform consistently and in greater numbers. It is tough to outshine seasoned pros who have played international cricket for a long time, but then it’s a chance to display your true mettle — and the youngsters of ICL need to show it, and soon.
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