Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Where are the IPL talent scouts?

Talent scouts may not attend the Super League round of the Twenty20 tourney.

Jatin Paranjape (left), BCCI selector, and Saba Karim, GM, Cricket Operations, BCCI, at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Surat on February 27, 2019.

Indian Premier League (IPL) talent scouts may not attend the Super League round of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, scheduled to commence at the Holkar Stadium and the Emerald High School ground here from Friday.

They were likely absent at the preliminary stage, too, when 37 teams were in action.

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Usually the talents scouts, mostly retired cricketers, would be sent by the eight IPL franchises to look for young talent in Inter-State Twenty20 tournaments. It was in one of the Twenty20 matches of this tournament in 2013 that New Zealand’s John Wright spotted Jasprit Bumrah. Wright had a few words with Gujarat skipper Parthiv Patel and recommended Bumrah to the Mumbai Indians.

But with the IPL Season 12 auction preceding the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the franchises may be less enthusiastic about sending their scouts to see the 20 league matches and the final.