Success in South Africa took Indian Premier League to another level: Ravi Shastri

Ravi Shastri, the former head coach of the Indian national cricket team, has said that the successful hosting of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in South Africa in 2009 took the league to another level.

The former captain of the Indian Cricket Team reminisced about the tournament’s early days. During an interaction with Star Sports, he said, “The final stamp on the IPL came when we went to South Africa. To go there and to see that South Africa saw the IPL with the same interest as India, that shocked the world.” He further said that people around the world had started picking teams of IPL at that time.

Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri said, “The EPL has been going on for years, teams like Arsenal and Manchester United, but here in two years fans in IPL had their teams—Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings or Royal Challengers Bangalore.”

The 2023 Indian Premier League, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, is currently underway. IPL has entered its third week. Some teams have played well and some teams have struggled in the competition.

Last year’s finalists Gujarat Titans (GT) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) have performed well in the tournament so far. These two teams have secured the top spots on the points table. Delhi Capitals is in the tenth position. The team is yet to record its first win in the tournament after five matches.