Rohit, Jayawardene support mid-season transfer window
The Indian Premier League [IPL] this year is likely to introduce two unique rules which probably haven’t been used in any other domestic T20 league—Decision Review System [DRS] and mid-season transfer window.
The football-like transfer window in the middle of a season will allow uncapped players, who have played less than two games at the halfway mark, to be eligible for a transfer. The DRS system, on the other hand, is a familiar concept where the players are allowed to ask the umpires to reconsider their decision for a certain limit of unsuccessful reviews.
According to Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma, mid-season transfers will add more value to the competition. The teams will have the opportunity to go for the desired option once they figure out the capability of their side.
“The mid-season transfer window will give the teams an opportunity to see what they need in the squad and other teams will also be looking at what players they can get," Rohit said. “It completely depends on the franchise if a situation comes when we need to get a player or give a player. It is good for the tournament and will add even more value to the tournament.”
Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene labeled the initiative as an “evolution” of the franchise model. He also opined that DRS is a positive choice for IPL.
“This is the evolution for the franchise model going forward,” Mahela said. “It's a great option. The opportunity is there and it's quite new to all franchises to go through the season half-way and discuss how best we can address that.”
“DRS is there in international cricket. It's a plus for IPL. Mistakes happen and DRS is a helping hand. I am pleased with that. International players know how to handle it and it will be a good learning experience for the younger players,” he added.
The former Sri Lanka batsman gave credit to the shortest form of cricket for turning Test into a result-oriented game because the players can capitalize on their ability to score runs or take wickets quickly when required.
“It's going football way - like transfer, technology being used, and investing in younger players is always going to be healthy for international cricket,” he said. “If you see the Indian white-ball team now, most players have come through IPL. It's always healthy. I don't see any problem.
“Skill levels of players have improved because of T20 cricket. See, Test cricket now - 80-90 percent of Tests are result-oriented, which is always good, purely because of the pace at which guys are scoring runs and the skills that the bowlers have to take wickets. All over matches have gone to the fourth or fifth day and then a result has come. All this is healthy for the game."
