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Does dealing with IPL snub make cricketers feel like outcasts?

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Rasesh Mandani
Rasesh MandaniFeb 23, 2017 | 09:06

Does dealing with IPL snub make cricketers feel like outcasts?

The beauty of sport lies in competition. Not only in battling the opponent, but also in overcoming one's mental battles. Most athletes live with a large-sized ego and in their minds, there is enough space for insecurities to grow when the focus is lost.

As the India-Australia Test series kicks off, the Indians start heavy favourites, leaving the Australian skipper, Steve Smith burdened with multiple worries to handle. But scratch the surface and one may find quite a few Indian cricketers in the current squad nursing scarred egos as well.

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Smith, on the other side of the spectrum, may have drawn some inspiration from being the newly-appointed leader of the Pune IPL franchise, chosen over India's most successful skipper. On paper, India's pace spearhead Ishant Sharma starts as a threat to Smith and company. But the lanky Delhi pacer received a royal snub at the IPL 2017 auctions, finding no takers from any of the eight franchises.

En route his 215 Test wickets, he has had a few dream spells of serious pace and accuracy, but consistency hasn't been his stronghold and he lives with the tag of underperformer.

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Steve Smith was chosen over Dhoni to head Pune Supergiants. Photo: PTI

He was lucky to secure a Rs 3.8 crore IPL contract in 2016, but lacking the variations to win T20 matches, the impression that Ishant is only a Test specialist has been fast gaining currency. Pune franchise owner Sanjeev Goenka, who did not shy away from removing the mighty MS Dhoni as captain, feels his decision to release Ishant from his squad list into the auction pool is justified, now that no other franchise has bid for him.

Ishant's error of placing a premium base prize of Rs 2 crore for himself was his undoing in the final analysis.

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Another Indian Test star, Cheteshwar Pujara would also be smarting from the IPL snub. This isn't the first time though for a man known as Indian Test batting's backbone.

Pujara has been tagged a Test-only batsman early in his career and has only now begun to address issues with strike rate, while batting in Tests.

The results are there to see, with Pujara beginning to match run-scoring rate with other Indian batting stars.

But these nuances have been ignored by all IPL franchises who may have found the Indian Test number 3's success in T20s to be a long shot.

They did not punt on him at his base prize of Rs 50 lakh.

Pujara, unlike Ishant, has been doing all he can in the interim - from reminding the world of his recent 100 in a domestic T20 game to trying some leg spin to prove his IPL worth. For now he remains an IPL outcast.

Another player in the Indian Test squad versus Australia, who found no takers in the auction, was opener Abhinav Mukund.

Mukund has been recently redrafted in the Indian Test team, but that did not help him get an IPL opportunity.

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Even at his modest base prize of Rs 30 lakh, franchises did not show faith in the Tamil Nadu opener, who has only played a handful of IPL games.

Chances are that Mukund, who had to convince himself to stick to the game after having lost all hope since losing his India spot, may have dealt with the disappointment a little bit better. If anything, motivating himself to prove those who ignored him wrong with some heavy runs in the first available India opportunity may not be as difficult.

For Ishant and Pujara, the hurt would be deeper. They know very well - as does the rest of the cricket world - that they can perform in the game's hardest format. The irony is it pays peanuts compared to the game's richest league: one that cricketers from every part of the world - from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe - want to be a part of. If you don't, you don't belong.

As Kevin Pietersen tweeted the other day, "A slap in Test cricket's face. A T20 specialist becomes one of England cricket team's richest players."

Exactly Ishant Sharma's and Cheteshwar Pujara's sentiments.

Last updated: February 23, 2017 | 09:06
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