'Would've Been Worst Decision By BCCI...': Gautam Gambhir's Straight Talk On IPL

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to host its 17th edition. The marquee T20 event was started in 2008 and since then it has been a huge success. IPL gives India's domestic players an opportunity to brush shoulders with top international cricketers. This, in turn, hugely helps the domestic players to learn and improve. Hence, there is no surprise that IPL has seen the rise of many Indian stars over the years. Former India batter Gautam Gambhir has opined that it would have been a "worst decision" if Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had not started the tournament.

In a Q&A session on Sportskeeda's YouTube channel, Gambhir was asked, what if the BCCI had never started the IPL.

"I think it would have been the worst decision made by BCCI because IPL is the best thing that has happened to Indian cricket," told Gambhir.

As per several media reports, the window to organise IPL 2024 is from March 22 to May end. The final dates for the 17th season of IPL will be announced once the dates for India's general elections are finalised by the Election Commission.

Mitchell Starc, Australia's World Cup-winning pacer, became the most expensive player in the history of IPL, after he was bought for Rs 24.75 crore by Kolkata Knight Riders in the auction on December 19.

The left-arm pacer became the second player to breach the 20-crore mark after team-mate Pat Cummins was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 20.5 crore on the same day in the IPL 2024 auction held in Dubai.

In all 72 players (30 overseas) were picked as the teams spent a total of Rs 230.45 crore in the auction.

Harshal Patel was the costliest Indian player as he was roped in by Punjab Kings for Rs 11.75 crore while batter Sameer Rizvi bagged the highest sum among uncapped Indian players after being picked by Chennai Super Kings for for Rs 8.4 crore.

Apart from them, Daryl Mitchell (Rs 14 crore, CSK), Alzarri Joseph (Rs 11 crore, RCB), Rilee Rossouw (Rs 8 crore, PBKS), Rovman Powell (RR, Rs 7.40 crore), Shahrukh Khan (Rs 7.40 crore, GT), Kumar Kushagra (Rs 7.2 crore, DC), Travis Head (SRH, Rs 6.80 crore) were the other top buys.