Kochi Tuskers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kerala-c803 batsman Brad Hodge slams too much travelling – Indian Premier League news
Kochi Tuskers Kerala batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Brad-Hodge-c1184 has slammed the Indian Premier League schedule and said that the ongoing competition contains “too much travelling.”
The lucrative Twenty20 League is almost seven weeks long and consists of 74 matches. The format of the fourth season of the IPL is quite different from the one used in 2010. With the addition of two new outfits, the knockout stage has been changed to playoffs.
The new playoff system will see the top four sides contesting each other to find a place in the final.
With 10 different destinations all across India, the cricketers need to travel a lot in order to participate in a minimum of 14 matches. Considering the schedule as too hectic, Hodge said that it could have been much better with a bit of more effort.
“We could have done better in the IPL this time. The schedule I think is hectic. There are 10 teams and they have done their best to make a good schedule, but it involves too much travelling,” said Hodge.
The Aussie further expressed his concerns over the nature of pitches being used in the ongoing competition. Citing the tracks in Jaipur and Kolkata as inappropriate for the shorter format of the game, Hodge termed some Indian pitches as sub-standard.
“We could have won a few more matches but got struck on a few sticky wickets. Some of the pitches like the one in Calcutta (Kolkata) and Jaipur could have been better,” said the Australian.
Hodge is not the first one to raise questions over the nature of the wickets in the IPL. His captain Mahela Jayawardene and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar have already expressed their reservations over the quality of pitches being used in the tournament.
The Twenty20 league started just a few days after the ICC World Cup 2011, hosted by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758. Therefore, the curators had no time to renovate used and mutilated pitches and it is being considered as one of the biggest reasons of the
poor pitches in the ongoing season of the IPL.
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