• Home
• /
• Cricket

IPL is a very good platform for young cricketers: Amre

DUBAI — The Indian Premier League is no doubt creating ripples. Attracting the world’s attention, IPL has been gaining popularity at a rapid pace in just a span of three years.

Above all, it certainly has been a boon to Indian domestic players providing them the right platform to go up the ladder.

“It’s good for cricket,” said former Indian Test cricketer Pravin Amre who felt that IPL is playing a crucial role in giving youngsters an opportunity to grow as a cricketer.

“It’s a very good platform for young cricketers. Lot of players have benefitted from IPL especially players like Ravindra Jadeja. He entered the national team after he performed well in the IPL. There are so many such players who have been getting opportunity after they have performed well here.

“But after playing Twenty20 cricket, I feel that the players should keep their focus to play Test cricket which is the ultimate in cricket,” added Amre, who is in Dubai as the coach for the Cricket Match Training Programme organised by G Force Cricket Academy.

The 41-year-old who is the coach of the Mumbai Ranji team has played a pivotal role in Mumbai’s recent success. They were crowned the champions after defeating Karnataka in a thrilling final. This is the third win for Mumbai under Amre’s four year tenure. “It was indeed a great moment for us. It was a close match against Karnataka in Mysore, but we are happy that we emerged champions,” he said.

Amre was recently approached by the Baroda Cricket Association to take up the coach’s job but Amre is very likely to continue as the coach for Mumbai. “They had approached me and it’s a good offer with great monetary benefits but being a Mumbaikar, Mumbai would always be my first preference.

“We have the Cricket Improvement Committee chaired by Sunil Gavaskar. They gave me an opportunity to coach the Mumbai team and I’m happy that I have done a good job so far. It’s always a challenge to coach the Mumbai team. The expectations are high and there is lot of pressure and stress. That is where the coach’s role becomes important. You have to ensure that the players are fit mentally and physically since a lot of cricket in played during the Ranji season.

“We have very good senior players and the youngsters are also living up to the expectations. I am happy working with them since the seniors know their responsibility,” Amre said who cracked 103 in his debut match against South Africa.

Amre said that handling the injuries to key players also makes the coach’s job challenging. “There are lot of injuries and when a key player is injured for a big match, we need to have a solid bench strength as backup. So we are working really hard on all departments especially the fielding and fitness. Playing in the Elite group, every other team wants to beat Mumbai and they want to perform well against our team. So its not an easy job to become the champions, a lot of hardwork goes into it.”

When asked if players like Murali Vijay and Robin Uthappa, who have been performing exceptionally well in the IPL, should have been given a chance in the Indian team for the World Twenty20, Amre said: “It’s good to see we have so many options. Those who have been selected most of them have played the World Cup last time. Players like Yuvraj Singh can be a match winner on his day. That is the reason why experienced players have the edge. We can’t judge players on the IPL performance alone since all the teams consist of seven domestic players where as in the World Cup you have the best players from the country. So you need players who have solid experience and that is what the selectors have looked into before choosing the team.”

About his favourite team to win the title in the IPL, Amre had little doubt choosing the Mumbai Indians as his favourites. “It’s obviously the Mumbai Indians. Last two seasons they struggled to make it to the semifinals and this time they are topping the table winning most of their matches.”

Praising Sachin Tendulkar’s captaincy, he said: “Since two years people were talking about his captaincy capabilities, but he proved them all wrong and he has done an amazing job. He has been the best captain who has shown so much consistency and proved himself that he can be a great captain too.”

jaiprasad@khaleejtimes.com