IPL observation

I have an observation on this years IPL... T20 isn't a young mans game and experience has counted for a helluva lot this year.




Have a look at the top batters after 6 games - age in brackets:

• Matthew Hayden (37)
• Suresh Raida (23)
• Adam Gilchrist (37)
• Sachin Tendulkar (36)
• Herschelle Gibbs (35)

Obviously runs are pretty closely contested in this format of the game but I think its interesting that apart from Raida, the top batters are 35 and older - so much for smash and bash one day cricket.

Rahul Dravid (36) is also in the mix just below the top 5.

The bowlers were a very mixed bag with Yusuf Abdullah topping the ranks followed by "Slinger" Malinga.... Indian legspin master Anil Kumble was there or there abouts but no clear trend seemed to come through on the bowling front.

In terms of the batters though - I wonder if it is a case that they're not batting with a weight of expectation on their shoulders and are just going out to have a bit of fun or maybe administrators and fans get so wrapped up in "the next big thing" that we forget how much value and experience thes guys bring to the party?