SunstarTV Bureau: South African speedster Dale Steyn has said that the financial aspect of the Indian Premier League, the world’s most lucrative T20 league, steers the focus off of cricket and he finds the likes of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the Lankan Premier League (LPL) “slightly more rewarding”.
Dale Steyn, who is currently playing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), said playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) is less rewarding than other franchise leagues around the world because there is too much emphasis on money in the IPL and that “cricket gets forgotten” as a result.
Speaking to Express Tribune, Steyn, who had taken to Twitter to announce that he has withdrawn from the 14th season of the IPL, said, “I wanted some time off. I found that playing in these other leagues was slightly more rewarding as a player.”
“I think when you go to IPL, there are such big squads and so many big names and so much emphasis on maybe the amount of money players earn and everything like that, so sometimes, somewhere down the line, cricket gets forgotten,” he added.
Steyn, who has been part of teams in the IPL like Deccan Chargers, SunRisers Hyderabad, Gujarat Lions and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the past, pulled out ahead of the 2021 season. He is currently representing the Safaraz Ahmed-led Quetta Gladiators in the latest edition of the PSL.
“When you come to like a PSL or the Sri Lankan Premier League, for that matter, there is an importance on the cricket. I have only been here for a couple of days and I have had people in and out of my room, just wanting to know about where I have played and how I went about it. Whereas, when I go to something like the IPL that gets forgotten and the main topic is how much money did you go for in this IPL?” said Steyn.
In the 2020 IPL, Steyn was part of the RCB side, but in three matches, the former Proteas cricketer managed just one wicket at an average of 133 and a strike-rate of 11.40.
