Former England captain Nasser Hussain said that the participation of England players in the IPL had a part to play in the national team’s white-ball resurgence that culminated in their maiden 50-over World Cup triumph at home last year.
Citing the high level of competitiveness that the league offers, Hussain said that participating in it gives players the opportunity to finetune their craft to the best of their ability. “You cannot argue that when you go and play in the IPL, you’re playing against the best players,” Hussain told Cricbuzz. “You look at all those team sheets, they are like a World XI. Because they are playing in that big crowd, it helps you handle pressure.
“IPL isn’t a learning school, it’s a finishing school. It finishes you off as a cricketer, those bits that are missing, like playing spin on drier pitches, it helps you learn that and finishes you off as a cricketer.”
Hussain even went so far as to credit Ben Stokes’ contributions in the World Cup final, and his heroics in the Headingley Ashes heist a few months later to his experience of playing in the world’s richest T20 competition.
“The two innings that Ben Stokes played in the 2019 summer, at Headingley and in the World Cup final,” Hussain said, “in Headingley he went into IPL mode when batting with Jack Leach. Some of the shots he played, like the reverse switch hit into the Western Terrace off [Nathan] Lyon, he can’t play that unless he’s played in the IPL. Also the World Cup final innings. He can’t handle that pressure unless you’ve been in the pressurized cauldron before.”
