IPL, No More A Young Man's Game!

Look at the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Cricket. When it was first conceptualised, it was termed a young man’s game. But if anything, starting from Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and Anil Kumble, to Michael Hussey, Brad Hogg and Zaheer Khan, many a veteran has debunked this theory, writes N. Sudarshan.

- N. Sudarshan

Two years ago, Viswanathan Anand, one of the most articulate of Indian sportspersons, when asked about age as a factor vis-à-vis sporting performance had this to say: “It clearly is. But since it’s not something you can change, I don’t keep thinking about it. It’s more for the observer than the player.”

Now look at the Indian Premier League (IPL) in cricket. When it was first conceptualised, it was termed a young man’s game. It was deemed cricket’s opportunity to shed the tag of certain laziness which was always associated with it. But if anything, starting from Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and Anil Kumble, to Michael Hussey, Brad Hogg and Zaheer Khan, many a veteran has debunked this theory. An observer, like Anand said, has always been stumped. But the player has indeed revelled.

Much of the awe expressed at veterans performing as well as they have stems from a few assumptions one makes. Shorter the format, fitter the player needs to be is a truism. But why can’t a veteran do this? Tennis, the most athletic of sports, has 30-year olds (even 40-year-olds if one considers Leander Paes) faring like never before. The belief that a senior cannot keep up with the newest advances in fitness is a myth that has been bust. A veteran has proved more adept at absorbing modern-day techniques than many.

If anything, the shortest of formats has given a new lease of life for those bowlers like Ashish Nehra, who admittedly no longer have the stamina to last a Test match, but can be infinitely more effective in T20s. In fact, one might even be tempted to ask as to how many in the Indian team can run like the 34-year-old Mahendra Singh Dhoni? Or display lightning quick reflexes behind the wickets like only he does?