IPL has fast-tracked development of youngsters into Indian team, says Eoin Morgan

Bengaluru, October 10: England's World Cup-winning skipper Eoin Morgan believes the Indian Premier League (IPL) has fast-tracked the development of young players into the Indian team.

Currently in the UAE with the Kolkaka Knight Riders (KKR) franchise for the ongoing IPL 2020, Morgan cited the examples of his team's Shubman Gill and Delhi Daredevils' Rishabh Pant who broke into the national team in recent times based on their performance in one of the most popular franchse-based T20 tournaments all over the world.

"I think the IPL has been a window or a fast track into playing cricket for India for a number of years now. The IPL gives you that platform in order to propel yourself forward with opportunities, that's the beauty of it," Morgan was quoted as saying in an interview with the Dubai-based daily Khaleej Times.

Apart from Gill, KKR has many youngsters in the squad like Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi, who were all part of India's Under-19 World Cup triumph in New Zealand two years ago, a squad which was captained by current Delhi Capitals opener Prithvi Shaw.

Morgan dwelled further on how much IPL has helped players like Pant evolve their game.

"The most recent example of IPL's influence is Rishabh Pant. Probably three or four years ago nobody has really heard of him, but now in India he is a household name that has played a limited number of games for India, but he has had some great success on the international stage," added Morgan, who has amassed 2,240 runs from 94 T20 Internationals.

Leaders without title play pivotal role in direction that team travels: Eoin Morgan

The 34-year-old, who is one of the best finishers in the slam-bang version of cricket, agreed that evolution of franchise cricket has brought players from different walks of life closer in a dressing room environment which promotes friendship.

"Evolution of franchise cricket has made coming into a change room that has different culture with potentially a different language or two or three different languages a lot more easier to gel."

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The Dinesh Karthik-led KKR are currently perched fourth in IPL 2020 table which is headed by Delhi Capitals.

KKR's next game is against KL Rahul-led Kings XI Punjab at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Saturday (October 10).