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IPL Opening Ceremony
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir loves the IPL, and the quality of cricket it produces, but doesn't want the franchise-based T20 league to become the pathway to the Indian team for youngsters. Speaking on Ravichandran Ashwin's YouTube show, 'Kutti Stories with Ash', Gambhir said, "The bigger concern that arises is about how many youngsters want to play Test cricket for India. I hope the IPL is not a shortcut to play for India." The Kolkata Knight Riders team mentor also asserted that the IPL has benefitted the Indian domestic cricketers. "Today, when I look at international T20 sides, apart from 2-3 teams, I don't see enough competition when it comes to playing for India," he said. "Not many teams can match the quality that India has. So, I feel that in today's day and age, IPL has become far more competitive than international T20 cricket. "Just the quality of the domestic players has changed, the way domestic players want to play in the IPL and the way they work around T20 cri
Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher said on Wednesday that he will have no problem in resting Rohit Sharma during the league stage of the IPL provided the captain is able to find form with the bat. Mumbai Indians will be desperate for a turn around after a poor show last year when they finished last in the 10-team IPL. With Mumbai Indians starting their IPL 2023 season with an away clash against Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 2, the focus will also be on the workload management of the players and especially Rohit, who will lead India in the 50-over World Cup later this year in October-November. Sharma, when asked if he was open to take a backseat and rest during a few IPL games in the league round, preferred to have the question answered by the former South African wicketkeeper and coach Boucher. In regards to resting Rohit, he is the captain. Hopefully he gets into some sort of form and hopefully does not want to rest, but we will be adapt to whatever the situation is, ..