IPL 2024: ‘Cricket itself takes a backseat during…’, says R Ashwin

Indian spinner R Ashwin on Thursday talked about the meteoric rise of the India Premier League matches since its inception in 2008. Speaking on the Club Prairie Fire podcast, he said the IPL has grown so huge that at times cricket itself takes a backseat. 

He said sometimes, cricket players find it challenging to juggle between training and advertising shoots. “As a youngster coming into the IPL, I was only looking to learn from the big stars, I did not think about how the IPL would look 10 years down the line,” said Ashwin, who is an important member of the Rajasthan Royals squad.

The 37-year-old has recently completed 500 Test wickets. He started his IPL journey with Chennai Super Kings, and that led to him wearing the coveted India cap across formats, PTI reported. 

The IPL surpassed leagues like the English Premier League, NBA, and Major League Baseball to become the second-biggest league in the sports world in terms of per-match value in 2022 after the media rights were sold for an incredible ₹48,390 crore for a five-year cycle.

Ashwin further spoke about his early days in the Indian Premier League and how the event exceeded all expectations. “No one envisaged the kind of growth that the IPL has had. I still remember a conversation I had with Scott Styris when we were both at CSK.”

“He told me that when he was playing for the Deccan Chargers in the initial seasons of IPL, he did not think the IPL would last for more than two to three years. Initially, there was a big influx of money," he added on the podcast hosted by former England captain Michael Vaughan and Australian great Adam Gilchrist.

At the latest auction, Australian pacer Mitchell Starc fetched a record ₹24.74 crore deal from Kolkata Knight Riders.

"Look, over the years you'd think that the IPL is one tournament that is largely won at the auctions. I believe the auctions are a very important facet of this league, but the beauty of the IPL is that franchises have evolved into getting their teams right. There’s no one way to skin a cat. No one player is bigger than the team. No one slot is bigger than others. The teams invest wisely,” Ashwin said. 

(With PTI inputs)