Justin Langer
Justin Langer (Credits - Getty)

Australia coach Justin Langer on Wednesday questioned the timing of the last year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) as he put the blame on the tournament for the recent injury woes of his team as well as India’s. Both the teams have been hit hard by injuries since they resumed their rivalry in November, just days after the completion of the IPL on November 10 in the UAE.

The IPL was held in the September-November window in 2020 in the UAE due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lucrative tournament is usually held in India during the April-May window but had to be postponed in the wake of the outbreak.

Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians with the IPL 2020 Trophy (Credits: Twitter/IPL)

Ever since the tournament ended, players from both the sides have been sidelined because of injuries. For Australia, David Warner missed the T20I series as well as the first two Tests and struggled with his fitness in the third Test after suffering a groin injury during the second ODI. For India, the latest addition to the injury list is Ravindra Jadeja, Hanuma Vihari as well as pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.

Earlier, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav were ruled out of the series due to the various injuries they suffered. And as the teams struggle with the injuries, Justin Langer believes the timing of IPL might be the reason behind it.

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“It is really interesting how many injuries [there have] been throughout this summer. I can’t help and think that the IPL this year (2020) was in really, probably wasn’t ideal timing for anyone, certainly for such a big series like this,” Justin Langer said at a virtual press conference.

Justin Langer
Justin Langer. Credit: Getty Images

At the same time, the former Australia opener was also all praise for the IPL, saying it helps in development of young players.

“I love the IPL. I look at IPL now like I used to look at county cricket for our young players. They go and play county cricket and it helps them [in] their cricket development enormously, I think it is the same with the IPL, helps their white-ball development.

“But the timing of it…because of what happened with COVID…probably wasn’t ideal, and I just wonder whether that is having an impact on the injuries that we are seeing for both teams throughout the summer, so I’m sure they’ll review that,” said Justin Langer.

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