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NZ Herald: Return to an Indian Summer

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Having not visited India for about six years,   it has come a long way. The change in the quality of the infrastructure and the general development of the country is astounding and testament to a power house economy that is   changing the way Indians live.
One thing that hasn't changed however is how much they love their cricket.
We think we love our rugby but these guys are on a completely different level. The game is everywhere.
News coverage of the Tri-Series win in Australia is at saturation point and the Indian Cricket League competition, where I will be playing for Chennai,   is serious business and similarly resourced.
The quality of both the international players and the young Indians is a pleasant surprise.
It reads like a who's who of international cricket: Brian Lara, Inzaman ul-Haq, Shane Bond, Michael Bevan, Mohammad Sami, Damien Martyn, Mustaq Ahmed the list goes on.
Our practice match against Lahore packed with current and former Pakistani test players was played at a standard not too far below ODI level.
The young Indian guys are phenomenally talented and two of our side have already played for India. The quality of the striking is at a level beyond anything seen in New Zealand and serves to enforce that with our wickets and conditions we are   never going to produce world class batsmen.
Throw in a full quota of support and coaching staff for each side and you have a set up that compares favourably to any sporting franchise.
From a player's perspective my brief is clear develop the young Indian players and pass on to them my experience both on and off the field.
The vision of ICL is a compelling one which all of the internationals have bought into. It's an opportunity for us to play in an elite environment with the best young talent available and to help them develop from 1st class to test quality.
 It is completely different from the Indian Premier League, in fact the only thing the two competitions have in common is that they both play Twenty20.
Both will most likely do very well. In India there is no such thing as too much cricket.  
The ICL  sides look reasonably evenly matched although   Lahore with its full quota of internationals probably has the strongest line up.  The fact that this tournament will be played in three stadiums in Hyderabad, Dehli and Chandigarh will mean a variety of wicket conditions and this along with the Twenty20 format should keep things interesting right through to the finals.

Posted by Adam Parore at 01:24 , Comments ( 29 ) | Link


 
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