The IPL helps Indian cricket a lot says Gautam Gambhir. He thinks starting the IPL was a very good choice by the BCCI. Gambhir believes without the IPL, it could have been the worst thing the BCCI decided. The tournament lets players in India get better. It also makes cricket more popular in the country.
In 2008, the BCCI started the IPL. The IPL is now the biggest and richest T20 cricket league. At the auction for the 2024 season, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins sold for the most money ever. Starc sold for ₹24.75 crore. Cummins sold for ₹20.50 crore. Both are Australian bowlers.
Gambhir was asked, in a “What If” Q&A session on Sportskeeda’s YouTube channel, what if the BCCI had never launched the IPL. He responded:
“I think it would have been the worst decision made by BCCI because IPL is the best thing that has happened to Indian cricket.”
Gautam Gambhir
Answering a question about what job he might have had if not for being a cricket player, the previous opening batter said:
“I would have been in the Army.”
Gautam Gambhir
The question asked the 42-year-old if he wanted to be the batting coach for the Indian cricket team. He answered that he has not thought about being the coach.
“Too many things on my plate at the moment. I haven’t thought about it.”
Gautam Gambhir
Gambhir helped Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) during the 2022 and 2023 IPL seasons. He was their mentor. For the 2024 season, Gambhir will mentor Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). KKR is the team Gambhir led to win two IPL titles as their captain.
“Other games would have got more interesting” – Gautam Gambhir on what would have happened if Mujeeb had taken Maxwell catch
One of the most memorable incidents of the 2023 World Cup occurred when Australia and Afghanistan played a league game at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, with Glenn Maxwell being dumped by Mujeeb Ur Rahman. By scoring a double century, Maxwell made Afghanistan pay and helped Australia secure a vital victory with just three wickets needed.
When asked whether Australia would have advanced to the World Cup championship game if Mujeeb had made the catch, Gambhir responded:
“They still could have reached the semi-final. They would have beaten Bangladesh, but then probably the other games would have got more interesting.”
Gautam Gambhir
The Australians won the ODI World Cup for the sixth time after losing to South Africa and India to start the competition. They then defeated the Proteas in the semi-final and the Men in Blue in the championship match.