Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has taken aim at the scouting systems of several Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises, questioning the way teams identify and invest in players during the auction process. The batting legend believes that many cricketers are being picked based on performances in lower-level tournaments, only to be exposed when they face higher standards of the league’s competition.
Over the years, the IPL has played a crucial role in discovering and nurturing talent, helping players such as Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Rinku Singh, and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi make a name for themselves on the biggest stage. However, Gavaskar feels that not every player who earns a lucrative contract is capable of delivering consistently against top-quality opposition.
After the conclusion of IPL 2026, the legendary Indian batter pointed out that impressive performances in state and city-based T20 leagues do not always translate into success in the IPL, where the quality of bowling and overall competition is significantly higher.
“A lot of the big hitters in the various State and city leagues that have sprouted up were exposed when faced with the international quality of bowling in the IPL,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
“In the state and city leagues, the standard of both batting and bowling is nowhere near as good, and unless the scouts have a discerning eye and don’t get swayed by player agents, the franchises will keep picking players based on these performances and find they have wasted their money,” he continued.
The former India opener further criticised franchises for spending heavily on players who often fail to justify their price tags and end up spending most of the season on the bench. According to him, such situations reflect poorly on the judgement of scouts and team advisers involved in the selection process.
“When a franchise picks a player for crores and then doesn’t play him in more than a couple of games, it tells you that their scouts and advisers have sold them a dummy. The IPL very quickly finds a player out as being overrated and overvalued,” the legendary India batter expressed further.
“Yet there will be players who will have one performance in the tournament, and it’s usually in a match of not much consequence for their team, and on the basis of that performance be picked for another year. One could make at least four teams of such one-match performers who will be picked again and again in the IPL,” he added.
It was a blockbuster season of IPL 2026, as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) defended their title successfully, defeating the Gujarat Titans in the grand finale at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on May 31.
