Praises and criticism at the same time for IBL

Zee Media Bureau/ Chaitan Papnai

New Delhi: The ongoing inaugural Indian Badminton League is being praised by many but it is facing criticism as well from few quarters. Recently, world number one shuttler Lee Chong Wei, who is the star player of the Mumbai Masters stated: "I have played twice in the China League. This is the first time for India. We have players like Tine Baun, Mark Zweibler, Ivanov and some Indian players. I have played in China and I have played in India, but I think India is better. Next year I think you can do much better. China (League) is a long one played over six months but Indian League is only three weeks," the Malaysian said. The crowd that has been thronging the stadiums to watch the league is higher than usual which is commendable. All the matches that have been played so far were quite competitive. But few well known shuttlers that are playing the inaugural season have issues related to their base price. Initially, Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponappa and few doubles players showed disappointment over their reduced base price during the auction. And now the former Olympic and World champion shuttler Taufik Hidayat has shown his disappointment over the price slab of players. As he stated: “I felt bad when for the first time I saw on TV how much a player was bought for. I felt the IBL didn`t treat the foreign players in the right manner. The price slab that was set was nonsense. Most of the foreign players were sold for their base price while the Indian players were bought for much higher prices.” For the inaugural season these issues can be pardonable. However, at the moment one can say that IBL is giving Indian badminton a much needed boost.