South Africa’s 36-year-old batter Rilee Rossouw has made a controversial comparison between Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the Indian Premier League (IPL) after facing snub from franchises of the latter. Rossouw feels the competition at the PSL is a lot more fierce whereas IPL is more like a Bollywood movie instead of actual cricket.
“Both leagues have their pros and cons. IPL is a very long tournament, and PSL is a much more compact tournament where the competition is a lot more fierce. IPL obviously has the whole Bollywood behind it, so it's a lot more of a movie than actual cricket,” Rossouw said in a video that has gone viral on social media.
Rossouw’s lacklustre IPL career
Rossouw has never had a breakthrough season in the IPL. In 2014, he made his IPL debut for RCB, scoring just 39 runs from three innings. He mostly spent his time on bench for RCB which had plenty of big players in the batting lineup during that period. In IPL 2015, he scored 14 runs from two opportunities and was later released.
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In the 2023 edition, he made his IPL return for Delhi Capitals at Rs 4.6 crore. From nine innings, he scored 209 runs at an average of 29.85 and strike rate of 148.22. DC finished ninth that season. Then, he was roped in by Punjab Kings (PBKS) for Rs 8 crore, his highest price tag yet. From eight innings, he scored 211 runs at an average of 26.37 and strike rate of 181.89. PBKS finished ninth in the season as well. Later, in the mega auction, Rossouw wasn’t picked by any of the franchises.
Rossouw’s form in PSL 2026
In the ongoing PSL 2026, Quetta Gladiators' Rossouw has been inconsistent. He registered scores of 25, 0, 1 and 53. His only half-century in the ongoing season came against an out-form Rawalpindiz who suffered their fifth consecutive loss.
Zampa weighed in on IPL vs PSL too
Earlier, Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa also said that the reason behind him pulling out of IPL auction was the length of the tournament and how overseas leg-spinners weren’t on the top of wishlist of franchises. Zampa was right as far as his case was concerned as plenty of his Australian teammates have earned way more at the IPL despite lack of performances.
"I pulled out of the IPL this year. To be brutally honest, for someone with my skill set, I just don’t get the money that others with other skill sets do. And for the amount of time that the IPL takes, it just didn’t seem like a reasonable choice for me to keep playing it,” Zampa said on the ARY Podcast.
“I was going to have a break, but PSL was on the radar about a month ago. It all happened pretty quickly, but I’m enjoying it,” Zampa added.