Australian opener and IPL great, David Warner believes that the 23-year-old Cameron Green will face a "big call" ahead of his participation in the IPL. The big call is in terms of the IPL schedule which has been elongated to 74 matches per season after the addition of two new teams, this means taking the plunge and spending nearly three months playing the cash cow cricket league.
Warner is positive that the green Green will bag a deal and make a killing but with that bag, he will hit the snag with the hectic schedule. With the glittering billing of the marquee tournament comes the taxing challenge of severe burnout and exhaustion that myriad players struggle to tackle head-on. The gruelling aspect of the league has prompted many international players to pull out of the league and focus on their national games. A similar call awaits young Green who will toy with the idea of playing the richest league in the world while running the risk of missing out on tours of England and South Africa.
"Nineteen weeks straight in India, being your first trip there as well can be quite challenging - from the heat perspective, the playing, the recovery," Warner said on Monday ahead of Australia's Test series against the West Indies.
"I've been through it, I've done the Test series and the IPL. It is tough. Then on the back of that you've got five Test matches in England. Then I think you've got 20 days off before you go to South Africa and then go to a World Cup.
"Glenn Maxwell did it a couple of years ago, played the whole year and then was cooked come the (Australian) season.
Green who has thrown his hat in the ring for the IPL auction for the first time is likely to get snapped up by teams in search of a valuable all-rounder in T20 cricket after his sensational outing in India where he deployed his T20 prowess unequivocally both with bat and ball. He opened the innings in the absence of ace opener Warner and filled his shoes just as better as he would like him to. The lanky and brawny all rounder fired at all cylinders right from the onset and struck his highest score in the first T20I (61) where he delighted the Mohali crowd by dint of some swashbuckling hitting. In three T20Is he accumulated 118 runs with economic spells that also earned him a late call-up to the T20 World Cup 2022 which makes him a sight for the sore eyes of the IPL franchises and the right contender to go under the hammer.
Warner is a seasoned campaigner at the IPL who is familiar with the ins and outs of it having captained SRH (Sunrisers Hyderabad) and propelled them to their only IPL team so far. In the various editions of IPL, he has so far played 135 matches, and scored 5014 runs at an average of 43.17 and strike rate of 142.39. Warner has also scored four centuries and 44 fifties, his highest score is 126 runs.
"From a youngster's point of view it's totally up to him, it's his decision to make. For the longevity of him and his career, it's a big call for him as a youngster. Whatever decision he goes with we'll respect it as players. But ultimately, it's down to him and CA." Green said he is aware that it is going to be tough but believes he has the right support system to sustain the rigorous of the hectic schedule.
"It's going to be a really tough year. I don't think anyone is disagreeing with that. But it's a really good opportunity, I think. If you're playing all three formats and IPL you're going to be learning a lot about your cricket.
“You might get pushed a little bit with your body. I back that in that I have good resources and around me to get through that. And doing everything you can to look after your body and have rests within that. It will be a tough year.”
