AB de Villiers: 'I think IPL is better than the World Cup' [closed]

Question

Nothing comes close to the IPL, to be honest. I know I am sitting in India and busy playing in the IPL, so it’s easy to say. But I have played in quite a few (tournaments) now across the world. I think it’s better than the World Cup. It’s the most incredible tournament to be part of. It wasn’t always the case. The first five years were nowhere close to where we are now. It’s so intense, so fast, and the following is just incredible.

Respect to the great man for saying this. 

P.S: I hope someone does not hide this, it is a valid interview. 

Comments

And I'm talking about future too. You can't change it, stop fighting it and accept it.

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Who's fighting? Engaging in a discussion. You could be right, I could be too. Chill man. You get worked up too much when it comes to abd.

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Because he's defenceless, you know if he were to be Indian player, there would be 3-4 people by my side Andy.

But defending an overseas player is much more tough.

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All that is fine but stop removing my best answer. It's my choice to select one isnt it?

Answer 1

Its Due To This Kind Of Mentality That He Is A Choker Along With Other South African Cricketers

If You Dont Value International Level Tournaments You Will Never Win

No Surprise He Deserted His National Team When They Needed Him The Most And Is Busy Playing And Making Money From Every A B And C Grade Cricket Leagues!

Comments

What a rubbish thinking, titles don't make players. In that case Sachin barely made it to the next level, and what's the next level? This is team sport, no single player can win anything without other 10 players.

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Sachin was a bad captain. But he dominated world cups like none other. Sadly dint make it to the winning side till 2011.

Yeah I expect kohli to win a world title, if not this year sometime later in his career. I hope he does that. Or else it will be a blemish on his glittering portfolio. This is what I want from him. I hope he does s Ricky Ponting.

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Kohli Unlike ABD Has A World Cup In 2011
Even If He Doesn't Wins As A Captain Still His Record Wont Be That Bad
We All Know Kohli Is Far More Mentally Strong Person
Moreover Kohli Is Always Trying To Win WC, For Him His National Team Comes 1st, Same Was Case With Sachin And Not To Forget Sachin Has Best Performance In World Cups!

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True. I just hope kohli does go on to win a cup like legend SRT. GOAT deserves it.

Answer 2

World Cup comes once in 4 yrs but IPL comes every year ..
I lost interest in IPL after 3/4 seasons ..
WC is like a festival to the Cricketers ...

Comments

Dhoni finishes it off in style, India lift the world cup after 28 years.

This line alone is enough to give multiple goosebumps to me as a proud Indian. The entire IPL of 11 years cant match up to this epic moment.

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Indeed the most prestigious trophy in the world of Cricket ....

Answer 3

that is because apart from money these guys get huge amount of love and praise from indians srom their home teams and ow also esp warner and abd who are hugely popular

Answer 4

I mean in terms of format, competitiveness, entertainment and most importantly environment wise IPL >> World Cup.

For example, we already have 4 semifinalists for WC with 2 teams that could get in. Rest 4 teams are not upto the level of top teams.
Comparison wise it's almost the end of group stage of IPL and still 2 teams can qualify, 3 if not for rain.

Only reason people say WC is because they are playing for nation notion. Otherwise WC can't compete, IPL is far ahead. I'm happy he said that, a player like him acknowledging this is a start, start of a revolution and also for cricket to be a global game.

Comments

Went over mine too. I guess theres some issue. I am able to select best answers for all my previous posts. Somehow this post isnt allowing me to do so.

Seems like a technical fault.

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This Guy Is Worst Mod Ever, Never Seen Anyone Worse Than Him, Not Just His Language/Behavior Is Poor As A Mod But He Also Misuses His Powers

What A Shame!

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Hey TB. Don't justify something stupid. Even in case of Football World cup is the biggest show on earth. In cricket world cup is way bigger than you think. Just bcoz ABD said something you don't have to agree with him.

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But football World Cup is really world Cup, tell me how big is football World Cup, how many countries play it and how many try to qualify. That's the real World Cup, not just some 4-5 countries.

Answer 5

I don't know in what context ABD said that but I don't agree with him.

Answer 6

That’s why he retired from the international scene even though he could have played one more world cup. But continues to play in the IPL! Guess he’s more of a Challenger than South African. :D

That’s a big statement from a man of his stature. World Cup will never lose its sheen. A Tendulkar says winning the world cup was his life’s proudest moment even after a godly career of 20+ years. IPL is great but WC is something different, it’s a prestigious trophy.

Mumbai Indians have won 3 IPL trophies but I’d rather India win th next WC.

Comments

See? Except for tb everyone agrees a wc is far bigger than an ipl.

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I never said about "bigger".
I said "better".

You do know there's difference between bigger & better?

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Wow you're still at it???? WC is most certainly way way way better than the ipl.

I am sure most would agree.

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You have absolutely no logii behind it. Absolutely nothing.

Yeah to me when all International sides are equal in strength and all 10 teams in WC have a chance of winning the WC. Till then don't argue.

You're taking about competitive teams, thrilling matches and all teams have chances of winning vs One sided matches, half of teams not in the league of other half & you can pinpoint the teams which are favourite to win the tournament.

Lol, what an argument.

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It has more to do with the competition TB.

A team of mediocre talents does stand a chance in t20 because all it takes is that you play well for 20 overs. Swing your bat, get a score in excess of 200 and you're in with a chance to win.
But in ODIs you need to be in the game for whole 50 overs. You have to build the game. Have been following cricket since 2006 and in 2010 my favourite form of the game was t20 but now it is test cricket but it takes much more than just power hitting and yorkers. It is the purest form of cricket. Takes grit and determination to stand there for 5 successive days. A game of back and forth. Same for ODIs, you have to build. You just don't go and start hitting it outta the park.

If you're in just for thrill then I think you are way younger than I thought you were. Any tournament in the world will always be inferior to the World Cup. If competitive teams is what you're complaining then those teams should not be fir to participate in the series called World Cup. It's about being the best in the world. You don't get that prestigious tag by being mediocre.

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Couldn't have put it better. The great SRT and the great Lara built their careers on grit and pure talent. They would want to get buried if they hear someone saying ipl is better in quality.

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Yeah, then just make World Cup a 4-5 team tournament, i mean what's the point of having it if all were gonna get handful of goof teams and rest passengers.
World Cup of 10 teams in which around half don't have much chance at winning. It's that prestigious?

I'm sorry but you seem stuck in the time where Zimbabwe & Kenya were giving fights to top teams and going to higher stages, in today's time it's not the case, some of those teams are there just because ICC wants to fill teams.

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BTW you know what, you want WC to be better? Then you start respecting T20. Because if Cricket needs to grow, only T20 can do that, not Test, not ODIs, only T20s.

You know it's ridiculous when you say 5-6 teams in while planet as WORLD CUP.

T20 can change it, maybe it's small chance but if there is then it's with T20 only. It's true. IPL, other leagues or even T20 International will go strength to strength and ODIs go down.

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Thunderbird Is Not Just Stupid But Also Immature!

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It's just that you're hell bent on proving yourself right.

It has everything to do with players that are not upto the mark. Look at Russell. He's an IPL superstar but nowhere in the international scene. IPL or other tournaments are just a platform that sets them up for bigger things in international cricket.

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So are you incapable of seeing the changes in Cricket over last few years? You are in denial, you deny the fact that no matter what you say and what you do, T20 leagues are here to stay, but International cricket is losing its steam but by but.

And I'm not saying this, statistics say this, data say this and now players have started to say this. And biggest of them all ICC also say this.

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Tb is a typical unaware Indian fan. Test cricket is the purest and the most popular form of cricket and here to stay. Period.

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Dude i was talking about ODIs & WC in ODI format. Never said anything about Test except in one comment.

And please, did you just say that Test cricket is most popular form of cricket? Seriously? I mean financial aspects disagree strongly.

Besides I'm just talking with what's happening in modern cricket, Test & ODIs are no way near T20s in terms of popularity and you can't change that.

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Rancho and Seinfeld, cant argue with a 15 year old who has just started watching the game 3-4 years back. Chill TB. Stay happy with your views. We know you can go on and on and on to prove your silliness.

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I don't need to prove it, the number of money T20 makes, the viewership, the brand deals, tie-ups, overall economics & financial asoects prove it.

Besides, let's all ask BCCI.

Virat played IPL last match despite his team not qualifying.
Bumrah is playing desire being injured once.
Pandya is also not 100% yet plays.
Kuldeep Yadav, not in playing XI, yet is there just in case they pick him.
MS Dhoni, injured 2 times yet playing IPL.

All of these are rising injuries during your precious 5 team WORLD CUP.

Cricket boards of West Indies & New-Zealand have said they their played well be available for IPL desire risking injuries for WC.
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I don't need to prove anything, above players, cricket boards are proof of what I'm saying.

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http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/23211970/players-desperate-board-free-agency-flight?platform=amp&__twitter_impression=true

Here's my proof.....300 players.

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For legends like Ms, ponting, Waugh world cup is the pinnacle of quality and greatness.

For people like ABD, hitting lap shots and making 80 runs at chinnaswamy and being paid for it is enough. Tb if you start a league, abd will participate there too. The likes of narine, abd, russell etc only want a fat pay and nothing else.

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Well we see how MSD performs for India vs how he performs for CSK :D :D

And now you can't change the topic, I've already given you concrete proof about why T20 is going to dominate the game in future, 300 players, all youngsters, it's not a joke.

It is the future of cricket.

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Isnt. The real cricket lovers are waiting for odis and tests while kids like you are waiting for jio dhan dhana dhan ads next year. Must be hard for you isnt it? When ipl gets over???

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How can you deny facts and figures? I mean if was saying it just like that, you could've said ok, I'm wrong.

But for do you deny facts, stats, data and a survey which points to one direction only?

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yeah they're making money and are more inclined towards money. Other than west indians, I don't think any other nations' players motives are only to play t20 league cricket. Ofcourse ABD will be counted among such players even though I don't want to. The man could have served his nation but instead chose to play in IPL, BPL etc.

Test and ODIs are still premier forms of cricket.

Agar Pakistan, SA and other inferior countries don't have player resources then it's their incompetence. I will happily accept a World Cup trophy where India has just blown the competition out of the water.

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Those 300 players consists of every nation. Besides AB served his Cricket Board enough, over a decade. That's great career, don't need opinions from those who want players to play for 40 years of age even if they are past their prime.

Another point - it doesn't matter what you say, T20 is the real premier format now, stats say that, data says that, economics, financial, technical, every parameter says that, if your stuck in past, you are unable to move on, it's your fault.

BTW good for you when you say that if India win a one sided tournament, cause that just proves what i said. Cause in some years time, there will be just India, England & Australia. So these 3 countries can play World Cup-World Cup among themselves and claim it as most prestigious trophy lol.

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Happily accept a trophy ? Nah. Till someone is captain, you wont accept any wc from India. You're biased plus a kid plus fully immature.

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Whoa, i don't said about about acquiring trophy..... That means you're saying this to Seinfeld lol.

Answer 7

Yes. . cricket is going the football way ... Club teams have their own following and once in every 4 years when world cup is played that will carry its own passion ...but IPL will only go bigger

Comments

World cups will hold their place ... Test matches are more result oriented now and will carry on as it separates the best in the class from rest .....it is the bi lateral one day series and t20s that might lose significance

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Even in football World is called as the Greatestshow on earth. So the logic is valuless TB. Messi despite his achievements get called for not winning a World Cup. World cup is bigger any day be it football or cricket.

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But football World Cup is really world Cup, tell me how big is football World Cup, how many countries play it and how many try to qualify. That's the real World Cup, not just some 4-5 countries.

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Lack of Investment in cricket is the reason. Only IPL, English Cricket, Aussie cricket, Indian Cricket invests huge. Others are just there.

Answer 8

What crap he just said......a thing which is an honor for a country is taken over by a mere local league, huh, doesn't matter how popular it becomes. Serving your country, playing for the country is something else and playing JUST FOR A TEAM is nothing serious.

Comments

I'm not gonna argue with you, definately your opinion but I'm just gonna say, it is serious, you can check MI & CSK special shorts to see how serious it is, from management to team selection to fans, it is definately serious.

BTW I've never seen Kohli making videos of team India plays badly, but he comes and make videos apologizing to fans RCB's poor performance. So yeah, it's serious.

And rest for WC thing, i won't argue with you.

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Again without logic. Kohli apologised since rcb have been messing up since ages now. That's why. Would you see dhoni issue a video apologising to fans if CSK lose the ipl final? Nah.

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Nah, this time I'm not arguing about Leagues vs International.

I'm just saying that players so take IPL seriously.

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haan bhai, they are taking it seriously, they can give their life for it, it's their Aag, their rage for the IPL. But these words are disrespecting to a trophy which is loved by countries not persons. Anyways, i think hum 2no he agree krtay hain aik 2sray ki baat sy (handshake)

Answer 9

More Entertaining : Yessss.

Better than WC : A big No.

Comments

Cz it's about nations not about franchises. So emotionally have to say WC>>>IPL. Uparse waha pe bhi competition tagda rehta hai, barring 1-2 occasions.

P. S - I like IPL more than any other tournament (including WC).

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Dunno why Tb gets so angry if someone points out a finger on abd. Try defending him based on facts. Not biases.

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Because it's unfair that he's being bashed by useless beings for having an opinion.

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Same applies on you. You had no authority to use certain words for ashwin too. He's achieved way more on the field than what you have sitting at home.

If that is the criteria, all of us should stop participating in this forum isnt it??? An opinion is an opinion. Stop being intolerant. And reply back with tact and logic instead of trying to suppress a conflicting opinion

Answer 10

His opinion. We should respect it. But i don't agree with him.

Comments

Majority wont. There's nothing bigger than being a world cup winning captain.

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In any sport World cup is way bigger. Even in football club football is great but World cup holds a special place.

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True. A WC winning skipper towers above all.

Answer 11

Neither has he won a WC or IPL but having played a final in IPL it's expected of him to say so.