IPL 2025: Supply of young talent most heartening, says chairman Dhumal

The ongoing IPL, now in its final month, has thrown up an unprecedented assembly line of new kids on the block, which has been its most heartwarming feature for the league's chairman Arun Dhumal. From a 14-year-old Vaibhav Raghubanshi, and Priyansh Arya to the long-haired Digvesh Rathi with his unique celebrations, the list seems to be endless even by IPL standards.

‘’Yes, it’s one of the most heartening features of this edition. If you notice, the IPL has always brought forth exciting young talents throughout its 18-year journey, proving that our catchline of 'where talent meets opportunity' is not just a manner of speaking,’’ Dhumal said.

While the likes of Priyansh became a huge talking point after hitting the second fastest century (39 balls) by an Indian batter for Punjab Kings (the previous best being by Yusuf Pathan for Rajasthan Royals in 2010), there were several other uncapped players who seized their moments, often as ‘impact players.’ The supply line is now threatening to go through the roof with as many as 16 state associations throwing up young talent from their own franchise leagues.

Speaking to National Herald over phone in between his hectic schedule, Dhumal broke it down: ‘’T20 is a fast paced format which attracts youngsters and the perks of playing in IPL are attracting these kids from remote parts of the country to grab the attention of talent spotters. It’s the best thing that could have happened to Indian cricket, though I must add we have been always blessed with an assembly line." 

Priyansh Arya, who scored a 39-ball century

‘’What this league does is to push even the senior players to keep proving themselves against the emerging talent, thereby raising the bar of the competition. This is why you have the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal — the highest wicket taker in the history of IPL — and Kuldeep Yadav fighting against the new crop of leg spinners,’’ said Dhumal, a former treasurer of BCCI.

Ever since taking over his new role in 2022, Dhumal and team have been instrumental in bringing about a number of innovative changes, with the ‘impact player’ rule inviting its share of bouquets and brickbats. A number of influential figures, the latest being Rohit Sharma, have spoken out about its so called disadvantages, but the IPL top honcho is in no mood to dispense with it.

‘’There has been a lot of chatter that with the impact player or impact sub coming in as an additional batter or bowler, it’s undermining the growth of the allrounders. All I will say is it raises the bar for the allrounders if you want to serve the team in both capacities,’’ Dhumal said.

Arun Dhumal, IPL chairmanThe decisions were taken after due diligence as we wanted to enforce the fairness of the game between bat and ball again. There had been a lot of talk about the IPL being a batter’s game, so we decided to put in more checks and balances with the specifications of the bat. These days, a player carries six to eight bats with him, so the umpires don’t know if he is using a different bat from the one checked on the eve of the match

Looking at the bigger picture, the official is also happy at the way the key technical changes brought about by IPL are affecting the fortunes of the game — surveillance of bats by on-field umpires with ‘bat gauges’ to ensure bat sizes are not violated, removal of the ban on saliva as well as the use of a second ball from the 11th over onwards for the fielding side to help the bowlers counter the dew factor.

‘’The decisions were taken after due diligence as we wanted to enforce the fairness of the game between bat and ball again. There had been a lot of talk about the IPL being a batter’s game, so we decided to put in more checks and balances with the specifications of the bat. These days, a player carries six to eight bats with him, so the umpires don’t know if he is using a different bat from the one checked on the eve of the match,’’ Dhumal said.

‘’The use of saliva on the ball after the pandemic is helping bowlers retain the shine on the white ball and derive some reverse swing while the bowlers, especially spinners, cannot complain about gripping the ball because of the dew factor,’’ he remarked.       

If there has been a discordant note in the first month of the IPL, it was the media report about the BCCI alerting all 10 franchises to be on guard about a businessman from Hyderabad trying to access players’ families and friends for possible corrupt activities. ‘’I have no idea about it, it could be speculation,’’ Dhumal signed off.