Former India player and Delhi Daredevils' Director of Operations, T A Sekar said the just-concluded Indian Premier League II in South Africa will act as a confidence booster for defending champions India in the ICC World Twenty20 in England starting June 5.
"The IPL was a prelude to the T20 World Cup. The tournament should give lot of confidence to Indian players in England," Sekar told PTI.
"Suresh Raina is in excellent form, Harbhajan Singh bowled well and Pragyan Ojha did well in the IPL to get in to Twenty20 squad. All in all, the IPL was a good learning curve for the Indian youngsters," he added.
Sekar said there were no major surprises in India's Twenty20 World Cup squad and every single player earned his place in the team.
"The Indian team has no surprises, every one of them deserved to be in the team. The selectors have done a good job."
He also lauded IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi for putting up an excellent tournament in South Africa at a short notice after the organisers were forced to shift the event out of the country due to general elections back home.
"As a former cricketer and as a coach of the Delhi Daredevils, I must say kudos to Modi for making fool-proof arrangements in security as well as other aspects to ensure the success of the tournament. Everything was in place and arrangements were excellent, infrastructure of the stadium in each venue was out of the world.
"One of the most striking thing of the IPL in South Africa was that each team had a level playing field. We had to play only on pitches given by the curator of each venue unlike in India where the home team has the liberty to prepare a wicket suiting to their preferences," he said.
He also hinted that each of the eight franchises is expected to earn double the amount this year from the IPL organisers after the huge success of the event in South Africa.
"We exactly do not know how much IPL is going to give us but there is going to be an increase although I don't know the quantum. Last year we received Rs 27 crore but this time there are talks that each franchise might get Rs 45 to Rs 50 crores. People are even saying, the amount could double and if it doubles, then the franchise will have much more to invest next year," Sekar said.
"If it had been held in India, we would have made huge profits because the gate collections are high here unlike in South Africa. The costliest ticket in South Africa was 200 rand, which is worth about Rs 1,100 in India, but the same ticket we sell here for Rs 8,000," he added.
