For years together toiling hard and being successful on the domestic circuit was no guarantee for a national call-up. But the IPL has changed all that. Last year’s tournament catapulted quite a few players onto national limelight, and fringe players are counting on the same this season too.

He was the biggest revelation for India in the first edition of the IPL, plundering attack after attack with some merciless batting, with a timely half-century in the final being the icing on the cake for the Rajasthan Royals. The performance brought Yusuf Pathan into the limelight. And as another IPL season beckons, he knows a similar show can help him further consolidate his place in the national side.

“I would like to repeat what I did last year in the IPL,” he says. “I’m still playing the same game, working on the areas I need to work on in both batting and bowling.”

While Pathan earned his first call-up after his IPL efforts, others are hoping to catch the selectors’ eye again after being forced out of the national team.

“The IPL is a fantastic platform for all youngsters and fringe players to make a comeback in the side,” says the discarded Robin Uthappa. “Even for someone like Yusuf Pathan, it was a fantastic platform for him that brought him into the side. So, if people like me are trying to make a comeback its going to be a superb platform for me.”

“Last year we learnt a lot of things,” says Piyush Chawla. “I spoke to Shane Warne and he told little things which I implemented in my game. I got very good results.”

The national selectors will be watching closely as India hopefuls rub shoulders with the best in the world. So performances in the IPL are sure to count for more than other domestic tournaments.

“The IPL has done wonders for all the fringe players and even some who are not even in their state teams,” says former selection chief Dilip Vengsarkar. “They got a fantastic exposure the last time. And I’m sure this edition of the IPL will give them the same sort of exposure to the fringe players and bring them into the limelight.”

There is a Twenty20 World Cup on the horizon so success can result in immediate reward.
Source – cricketnext.in.com