When money talks, PSL and IPL are leagues apart

Wahab Riaz was picked up by the Peshawar Zalmi in PSL auction for $140,000. (Source: File)

Earlier this month, Rajasthan seamer Nathu Singh was subjected to a heated bidding war between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils in the IPL auction. When it seemed heading like a two-horse race, suddenly Mumbai Indians threw their hat into the ring, and eventually shelled out Rs 3.2 crore ($470,500) for the 20-year-old, categorised in the uncapped players’ list.

Unless you are domestic cricket nerd, you would have wondered, “Nathu, who?” You could be forgiven to ask this question, because not many outside the Indian cricket circle has watched him in action. Early returns were enough to fetch him an India A cap, but he is still some way away from the senior team.

Compare this with Wahab Riaz, the left-arm Pakistan quick, who rattled the Aussies on a flat Adelaide Oval pitch in the World Cup quarter-final last year and had taken a five-for against India in the 2011 World Cup semifinal. The 30-year-old has featured in 15 Tests, 69 ODIs and 15 T20 internationals, besides more than 100 first-class matches.

In the Pakistan Super League auction, he was grouped in the “platinum” category, the equivalent of IPL’s marquee players’ draft. Without much haggling, Peshawar Zalmi signed him up for $140,000, roughly $330,500 less than what Nathu fetched.

Forget Riaz, even the starry-eyed Pakistan T20 captain Shahid Afridi, Riaz’s team mate in Peshawar Zalmi, managed only $140,000. When you compare it with his India counterpart, MS Dhoni, who was picked by Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs 12.5 crore ($17,64,705 approx) for this year’s IPL, the gaping gulf is easily detected.

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On the eve of their Asia Cup fixture on Saturday, India and Pakistan trained side-by-side at Fatullah. It was a study in contrasts. At one half of the ground, hardcore IPL pros were putting through their paces. The other half belonged to the men in cyan-green, who have only recently tasted the thrill of a franchise-based home T20 league.

Former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam, serving as the team manager, was forthright in his assessment that the difference won’t count in a high-octane T20 international fixture between them.

He rather hoped that being fresh from the PSL would allow Pakistan to get along with the rhythm and demands of the Asia Cup. “We are playing a high-pressure game to start with and PSL, too, had witnessed a lot of high-pressure contests. So the boys are nicely warmed up for the challenge,” he told The Indian Express on the sidelines of his team’s practice session.

Pakistan delayed their arrival in Dhaka because some of their cricketers had a small matter of playing the PSL final on February 23. Mohammad Irfan took 2/25 for Islamabad United in that game and saw his side beat Quetta Gladiators by six wickets to bag the title. But more importantly, six players — Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Anwar Ali, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Sami and Irfan — are part of the Pakistan Asia Cup squad as well. Umar Akmal and Riaz, too, had a terrific time in the PSL with 335 runs and 15 wickets respectively. Pakistan can’t complain to be undercooked for this format.

Alam, however, is realistic enough to know it would take a long time for the PSL to match its Indian counterpart.

“We are the last (Test playing) country to start this and it was needed. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Mr Shaharyar Khan and all the people in Pakistan cricket worked extremely hard to make the PSL a reality. All the countries have (already) done it and they have produced good cricketers from this format. So I think this is the best thing to happen to Pakistan cricket. It’s early days, but in the passage of time, PSL will grow.”

He spoke about playing catch-up. “The revolution started from the Packer series and it carried on. IPL was an upgradation to the Packer thing which has been very good for the game. PSL is similar to the IPL and it has attracted a whole new set of audience in Pakistan and UAE. It has long been conceptualised and it’s fantastic that the first edition (of the tournament) was held just before the Asia Cup and World T20.

The PSL has allowed our cricketers to get into the T20 mode. Also, it helped us identify new talent. The shortest format demand a different sort of game awareness and skill-set and more you play, more you get accustomed to it,” said Alam. Only a few days ago, veteran fast bowler Ashish Nehra had spoken about how IPL helped him to be in top shape and help stage an India comeback.

The league has contributed immensely to India’s rise as the top T20 team in the world. And now they are going through a purple patch. So far, whenever India faced their fierce rivals in T20s, they carried the added IPL-advantage. PSL’s introduction has provided Pakistan with something decent to fall back on.