Former Pakistan cricket team star Basit Ali pointed out the amount of talent on display in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) and explained why he considers it to be the No. 1 league in the world. There has been some debate among the fans when it comes to the comparisons between IPL and the Pakistan Super League (PSL). However, Basit clearly said that although some of his compatriots feel bad when he says it, he believes that the wide range of talent puts IPL well above its competition.
“The class of IPL – when I call it No. 1, my Pakistan brothers feel bad. But all they do is waste their hands and time. Look at the immense pool of talent, this season alone. Nehal Wadhera, Priyansh Arya, Abdul Samad, Ashwani Kumar. I want to see Mayank Yadav in particular. I am eagerly waiting for him to be match fit. I really want to see his bowling,” Basit Ali said on YouTube.
Meanwhile, India’s Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma and batting talisman Virat Kohli retained their place in the top category, while the out-of-favour duo of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan returned to the fold in lower brackets in a 34-strong list of centrally contracted players released by the BCCI on Monday.
The A+ grade, which commands an annual retainership fee of Rs seven crore, also features Ravindra Jadeja and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah much like the last few years.
India’s Champions Trophy hero Iyer has been the notable comeback in the list, inducted in group B which comes with an annual remuneration of Rs three crore.
Iyer was dropped last season for allegedly ignoring domestic cricket for IPL. Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan. dropped for the same reason, also made a comeback in category C, which is worth Rs one crore annually.
Rishabh Pant, who was demoted to group B during the 2023-24 season as he didn’t play due to his recovery from a life-threatening accident, is back in A category in place of the retired Ravichandran Ashwin. Category A comes with a retainership of Rs five crore annually.
Category C features the maximum number of players, 19 in all, with five new entrants in Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Abhishek Sharma and Nitish Kumar Reddy and Akash Deep, who earlier had a fast bowling contract.
The only notable name missing in the list is Mumbai all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who last played for India in the 2023 ODI World Cup game against Bangladesh in Pune. Fast bowler Avesh Khan, keeper-batters Kona Bharat and Jitesh Sharma have also been excluded from the list.
(With PTI inputs)
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