NEW DELHI: The margin between top and the bottom placed teams in the Indian Premier League is very less and that's what makes the Indian Premier League the toughest in the world and as big as any T20 World Cup, feels Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Gautam Gambhir.
Under Gambhir, KKR finished at the top of the table despite Rajasthan Royals leading the charts for majority of the season.
Four straight defeats and a washout pushed RR down to the third spot after the league phase of the season came to an end while five-time champions Mumbai Indians finished at the bottom of the table.
Gambhir pointed out that all the IPL teams are very strong and anyone can beat anyone on any given day.
"I am impressed with most of the teams (in IPL) because the team that has finished on no.1 and the team that finished at no.10 (in league stage), there is not too much difference between them. If a five-match series is played between two teams, I won't be surprised if the bottom placed team defeats the top team.
"This is the beauty of IPL. That's why we say that the IPL is the toughest league in the world. IPL is as big as any T20 World Cup. Because the margin between the teams is very, very very less. I can never predict (who is going to win). It is impossible to predict. You can never predict in IPL. The margin between teams finishing in top four and not finishing in top four is very less," Gambhir said on Sportskeeda.
Gambhir, who was the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants for two years, moved back to KKR ahead of IPL 2024.
The 42-year-old previously led KKR to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014.
Gambhir recently also said that he loves IPL and the quality of cricket it produces but doesn't want the franchise-based T20 league to become the pathway to the Indian team for youngsters.
"The bigger concern that arises is about how many youngsters want to play Test cricket for India. I hope the IPL is not a shortcut to play for India," Gambhir said on Ravichandran Ashwin's YouTube show
"Today, when I look at international T20 sides, apart from 2-3 teams, I don't see enough competition when it comes to playing for India," he said.
"Not many teams can match the quality that India has. So, I feel that in today's day and age, IPL has become far more competitive than international T20 cricket.
"Just the quality of the domestic players has changed, the way domestic players want to play in the IPL and the way they work around T20 cricket -- I think most of their focus is on playing T20 cricket."
(With inputs from PTI)
