The India Premier League (IPL) is fifteen years old and it will enter its sixteenth year when the first match of the IPL 2023 takes place on 31 March. Meanwhile, in these fifteen years, there are several other T20 leagues that have cropped up. While no one comes close in terms of revenue generation, there is always a debate about the popularity of these T20 leagues as compared to the IPL.
The two names that are taken along with the IPL are Big Bash League (BBL) and the Pakistan Super League (PSL). While the BBL started in 2011, the PSL started in 2015. Nevertheless, these two leagues have managed to pose a competition to the IPL in some way or the other. Now, amid this debate about which is better, Pakistan captain Babar Azam has revealed his favourite league between IPL and BBL.
When Azam was asked about which of the two leagues he prefers to watch, the Pakistan captain chose the Australian T20 league. He also explained his choice saying that BBL is a different challenger while IPL is somewhat similar to PSL in terms of pitch conditions.
''The conditions over there in Australia are different. The pitches over there are really fast and you get to learn a lot. Whereas in IPL, you get the same Asian conditions,'' Babar said on Peshawar Zalmi’s podcast.
It is worth mentioning that Azam has featured in none of these two aforementioned leagues. While he was denied a chance to play in the BBL as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) refused to give its players NOC, no Pakistani cricketer has taken part in the IPL after the first season of the tournament, due to political tensions between India and Pakistan.
Azam is currently playing for the Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL which concludes on 19 March. Zalmi, under Babar have qualified for the second stage of the tournament where they will face Islamabad United on Thursday.