All Top International Players Play In IPL; Can’t Compare With PSL - Wahab Riaz Says IPL Is On A 'Different Level'

Senior Pakistan pacer Wahab Riaz opines that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is a higher level tournament than the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The Peshwar Zalmi seamer reckons it is not wise to compare PSL with the IPL.

Wahab Riaz believes the key reason for that is the presence of the most elite overseas players in the IPL, which is the most expensive, and the most money-generating T20 cricket league in the world.

He further points out that there is a difference in the way things go about in the IPL compared to the PSL – mainly in the distribution of the players as while in IPL there is an auction that takes place, the PSL uses a draft system to group players in different franchises.

“IPL is a league where all the top international players come and play. You can’t compare IPL with PSL, I believe IPL is at a different level. Their commitments, the way they run things, communicate things, the way they draft the players, that is totally different.

I don’t think any league can compete with the IPL, but if there is any league that stands behind it, it has to be the PSL. The League in Pakistan has proved it,” Wahab Riaz said during the interview with Cricket Pakistan’s YouTube Channel.

The kind of bowlers you get in the PSL is not found even in the IPL: Wahab Riaz

While he conceded that the IPL is a much bigger league than the PSL, however, Wahab Riaz also believes that the quality of bowling in Pakistan’s league is better than that in India’s league. The 35-year-old maintains that the bowling attacks in the PSL are stronger and hence the PSL sees low-scoring encounters than the IPL.

“The standards of bowling are quite high. The kind of bowlers you get in the PSL is not found in other leagues, not even in the IPL. This is why PSL doesn’t have many high-scoring games. The bowling attacks in PSL are the best in the world,“ the left-arm seamer asserted.

At the moment, both PSL 2021 and IPL 2021 stand suspended after Covid-19 cases emerged in the franchises. While the PSL 2021 is set to resume in June, the BCCI is looking for time later in the year to complete the tournament.

Wahab Riaz, who has represented Pakistan in over 150 internationals, is currently struggling to get back in the squads across formats, having last represented the side in December last year.

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