espnstar.com columnist Suresh Menon in his latest piece has rubbished claims that the IPL has caused Australia's downfall.
Menon, while agreeing with the argument of two non IPL players in the team putting up the best show (Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson), said England should have been successful in India merely on the fact that none of their players appeared for the mega Twenty 20 event in India early last year.
"At least one newspaper has blamed the IPL for Australiaʼs loss, pointing out how the two men who didnʼt take part in the Twenty20 tournament in India - Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson - have been the most successful. A good argument, except that, by the same reckoning, England should have thumped India since not a single one of their players participated in the IPL."
Menon reasons the most important reason for the Aussie downfall is the retirement of some of their top cricketers in recent times.
"In sport, there is the fallacy of the single reason, when events usually require multiple explanations. The most important reason for Australiaʼs decline has been the simultaneous retirement of three of its all-time greats, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist. There are other reasons too - Ponting, for example, has said that while other countries learnt from Australia at their peak, Australia themselves refused to learn from other countries."
To read the entire column, click here.
