Rajkot: Former West Indies skipper Carl Hooper has blamed the Indian Premier League (IPL) stating that the lure of bagging an IPL contract has hurt the Caribbean outfit in Test cricket as most talented youngsters’ ultimate goal is to play in the cash-rich T20 league.
“We should have seen this coming (IPL impact on West Indies cricket). T20 cricket is here to stay. You got more leagues in play than what it was five years ago. It is going to affect us because for most young West Indies players, the ultimate aim is to sign a contract with an IPL side,” Hooper who returned to India after 16 years as a part of the commentary team told this agency.
The veteran of 102 Tests and 10,000-plus international runs, also feels that the past disputes between the players and the Windies Cricket Board is well documented and cash-rich T20 leagues like IPL has contributed heavily to that.
Owing to pay disputes and with the option of playing T20 leagues around the world, the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine preferred to play the shorter formats.
“The IPL is just a six-week window but we have had situations where we have had someone like Sunil Narine, who picked up six wickets in his last Test (in 2013), has not played for us again. Same goes for Gayle and Kieron Pollard and we are missing players,” said Hooper who now runs a chain of restaurants in his adopted homeland Adelaide.