April 24, 2011
The Indian Premier League has been the launch pad for many a young player catapulting him into the international league. The coverage that it gets, the viewership and the attention from the media is such that players who have been doing well in the Ranji trophy for donkey's years get overtaken by a whippersnapper who gets a quick fifty or takes a few wickets and instantly becomes an international prospect.
The poor cousin on the other hand toils in the Ranji trophy and gets his usual big hundreds and regularly picks up more than five wickets but is hardly heard of and is forgotten the moment the first ball is bowled in the Indian Premier League.
Yes, there are many who play in the IPL too but if they don't show the same form as they do in the Ranji trophy then they are benched and it adds to the frustration as they see someone else with half the hard work they have put in and with a fraction of their first class experience suddenly become a national prospect on the basis of odd performance in the IPL.There is no doubt that the IPL overshadows other domestic tournaments and all that the domestic performer is hoping for is that some franchise will notice him and pick him in their team and that will at least be some reward for the efforts that he puts in the entire year.
Paul Valthaty is the player of the moment in the IPL. With his blistering century followed by another couple of quick fire innings as well as picking up wickets with his clever change of pace he has taken the IPL by storm and is now being talked about as an India probable.
This is not his first year in the IPL but certainly his most productive and everybody wants to know more about him. He has been on the fringes of the Mumbai team for quite some time now but Mumbai being the strong batting lineup that it usually is did not have a place for him.
The competition for places in the Mumbai team is such that there is not much room for failure and sometimes players get just the one chance and if they don’t grab it then it is the next one in line who comes in. It's a hard school but maybe that is why Mumbai has dominated Indian cricket for such a long time and also why a lot of Mumbai players have flowered elsewhere where they get more opportunities to show their talent.
Valthaty of course had an unfortunate injury which threatened to end his career but he stuck to his task and the rewards are coming in now with his dazzling performances for the Kings Eleven Punjab. What has been impressive apart from the range of his shots as well as the power he packs into them is his temperament. He has been unruffled by all the verbals directed at him and has responded by hitting the ball even further.
His outstanding efforts with bat and ball make him the CEAT international cricketer of the week beating some even more famous contenders like Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar.
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