IPL 2022: Ageless wonders and winning robust T20 battles

Training and playing smart cricket, many older players have debunked the theory that professional sport is a young man’s domain.

When 41-year-old Mohammad Hafeez hit a 46-ball 69 and then took 2/23 to set up Lahore Qalandars’ victory over Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) final last month, it again debunked the theory that professional sport is a young man’s domain. Athletes try to stay relevant at the top level by training the body to adjust to its limitations, but after a point the body can revolt.

MS Dhoni (CSK/Twitter)

This is where a line is drawn between those who fall out of the race and those who take it a notch up by eating better, getting wiser about training, and picking the right format to play.

Cricketers who buck the convention in terms of age are not new though. Right from WG Grace (he played his last Test at 50), Jack Hobbs (47), Vinoo Mankad (41) and John Traicos (45) in Tests to Sanath Jayasuriya (he played his last T20I at 41), Brad Hogg (43), Brad Hodge (39) and even Rahul Dravid (38) in the shortest format, older cricketers have always been in the fray. That they are still important in an era of frenetic franchise T20 leagues is remarkable.

Chris Gayle (41) and AB de Villiers (37) were bossing it till the last edition of the Indian Premier League. Dhoni, 40, is not going anywhere while Faf du Plessis, 37, has been named Royal Challengers Bangalore captain. Among others, Dwayne Bravo is 38, Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Rayudu and Shikhar Dhawan are 36, David Warner and Ravichandran Ashwin are 35 and Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma will turn 35 in April. Elsewhere, Imran Tahir (42), Shoaib Malik (40), Dan Christian (37) and Ravi Rampaul (37) are still playing.

So, what makes them relevant?

An overwhelming factor that decides selection is the experience they bring to the table. Having logged more hours featuring in a range of real-time match scenarios, an older cricketer is more adept at being the playmaker—slowing down the game where required and not panicking when a wicket falls or a couple of overs of slow scoring go by. Dhoni may not have the range of shots anymore but there is still possibly no one better at taking a game to the wire. An older cricketer also isn’t worrying about impressing the selectors, meaning he can play with an uncluttered mind.

Du Plessis—he scored 633 runs, two short of top-scorer and opening partner Ruturaj Gaikwad, in Chennai Super Kings’ title win last season—showed how it’s done. Even if he isn’t the captain, an older player can ease into the role of a mentor. Like Dhawan, who will play under Mayank Agarwal at Punjab Kings this time. “I am practising hard, focusing on my work and not thinking too much this time if I get a call back from Team India,” Dhawan said recently. “I would love to join but if it doesn’t happen then I am happy and without any tension.”

Not being a liability on the field is a prerequisite to staying relevant for older cricketers. “We talked a lot about age but what matters is fitness,” Dhoni said after the 2018 IPL win. “Rayudu for example is 33, he's someone who is fit, covers a lot of ground. Even if he plays a few games where he spends a lot of time on the ground, he never complains. So, it is the fitness that really matters more than age. What captains want is players who move well in the field. It doesn't matter which year a player is born, whether you are 19 or 20. You have to be agile.”

Sports medicine has improved in leaps and bounds, but since older players take more time to recover, they take care to avoid injury in the first place. That means being smart about pushing the body. Like how CSK coach Stephen Fleming doesn’t want the older players to do high-intensity training. “Fleming makes sure we don’t do high-intensity fielding and catch training because Chennai has quite a few older guys. He doesn’t expect amazing movement in the field but he does expect some safe hands,” du Plessis told the media in 2020.

Dhoni, who has always backed experience, has elaborated on it many times.

“You have to accept your shortcomings. For example, if I push (Shane) Watson to stop a single, there is a very good chance he’ll burst his hamstring and won't be available for the next game. So, what you tell yourself is that they have to commit and try, but there’s no point getting injured for a single.”