The Australian players are thoroughly dominating the IPL series in the Indians’ own backyards! Splitting up the IPL teams nation-wise is probably not a good idea, but lets just do it for experiment’s sake. When you look at the IPL that way, it is quite clear that the best has by far come from the Aussies. The Hussey brothers have smashed match-winning knocks, Hayden is scoring big every game, Symonds hit the fastest 100, Watson is being increasingly confident with the bat. And the deadly trio of Warne, McGrath and Bret Lee have lifted the quality of bowling in the Twenty20 format. I can’t but resist and ask the question: Why is this? One obvious answer is that the Aussies are probably the best team in the world, and even their individual players are capable of pulling out miracles by themselves. That, although factually true, doesn’t really explain it for me. We know of a few other Indian players that fit that qualification, but are not doing too well in their own home grounds.
I think the bigger reason is that of motivation. First, and obviously, is the money. The Aussies can make significantly more money by playing in the IPL, and they seem to have a strong desire to come back next year. And the player-trading game and salary-negotiations-game are all looking like they’ll start next year, and the Aussies want to capitalize on this. There are some obviously overpaid and underpaid players in this season, and it is inevitable that a rationalization will take place at the end of the series. The Aussies look to benefit the most!
The second reason is the raw will to dominate all forms of cricket. The Australians have not been taking Twenty20 very seriously over the last few years, preferring to focus on their traditional strengths of Test Matches are ODIs. But after Twenty20 suddenly burst on the screen this year, the Australians now can’t get their heads off of it.Whatever the reason, its great entertainment watching these folks play everyday. But the party for the Australians is going to come to an end soon, with several of the players returning this week to play for the national side. We’ll see what happens after that!
