'Brutally honest': Cricket great's reason for Indian Premier League snub
Cricket legend Dale Steyn has taken a dig at the Indian Premier League (IPL) after opting out of the tournament to join a rival competition.
Steyn opted out of the most lucrative cricket league in the world, the IPL, to join the Pakistan Super League (PSL) this year.
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The South African quick, regarded as one of the greatest ever fast bowlers, was critical of the IPL and the emphasis on the financial aspect.
He also claimed, during the coronavirus pandemic, the length of the competition turned him against it.
"I wanted to take a bit more time off. I found that playing in those other leagues was slightly more rewarding as a player," he told Cricket Pakistan.
"I think when you go to the IPL there are such big squads and so many big names and so much emphasis on the amount of money that the players earn that somewhere along the line the cricket kind of gets forgotten.
"When you come to the PSL or the LPL, there's an importance on the cricket."
When you go to IPL,there are such big squads,so many big names and so much emphasis on maybe the amount of money players earn and everything like that,so sometimes,cricket gets forgotten.When you come to like a PSL or LPL there is an importance on the cricket.Dale Steyn pic.twitter.com/xadKxcKnyv
— Saleem Khaliq (@saleemkhaliq) March 2, 2021
Steyn said there is less emphasis on cricket in the IPL and the financial element takes over the discussion.
"I've only been here a couple of days and I've had people coming to my room asking where I played and how I went about it," he added.
"In the IPL, that kind of gets forgotten and the main topic is how much money you went for this IPL. And that's just me being brutally honest. I just wanted to stay away from that this year and put more emphasis on bringing good vibes to teams and tournaments I feel are worth it."
Bangalore reveal reason behind Smith snub
Steve Smith may be one of the premier batters of his generation, but the mercurial right-hander copped a stunning pay cut as the result of the latest IPL auction and the Bangalore Royal Challengers (BRC) have revealed why they snubbed him.
The Delhi Capitals paid $389,000 for Smith, which was a whopping $2.1 million pay cut for the Aussie star.
Many in the cricket world were surprised with Smith's price tag considering his white-ball form over the summer, despite only surpassing 50 three times in 14 innings in the 2020 IPL season.
This is in contrast to Glenn Maxwell who endured a tough season last year and was dropped.
Bold Diaries: The curious case of Steve Smith bid
Why did the RCB management withdraw after the first bid? Here’s the video of the planning that went behind the Steve Smith bid this #IPLAuction2021.#PlayBold pic.twitter.com/Nl60YrnoIB— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) February 23, 2021
But his turnaround in form outside the IPL was more than enough for RCB to drop $2.5 million to secure the all-rounder's services
While the IPL auction often throws up some strange twists, a video released by the RCB showed their thought process to why they didn't chose Smith.
The Challengers have a stacked batting line-up of Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers and were looking for an allrounder to fit into the team.
This prompted the team coach to stay away from Smith, who was not an allrounder, and put in a low-ball bid to bump up his price for rivals.
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