Ashish Nehra believes players playing CPL before IPL 2020 hold an edge over their peers

The 2020 season of the CPL begins on the 18th of August and runs for almost a month ending on the 10th of September

Former India speedster, Ashish Nehra believes that the players taking part in this year’s CPL have an advantage coming into the IPL 2020 season. After a 6 month suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IPL is all ready to make its return, albeit in the UAE due to health and safety concerns in India. With franchises all ready to jet off to the Emirates nation, Nehra believes that playing in this year’s Caribbean Premier League in the West Indies gives players an upper hand coming into this year’s mega cash rich league.

The eighth season of the CPL takes place from August 18 to September 10. Ashish Nehra strongly believes that players like Imran Tahir, Kieron Pollard, Rashid Khan and a number of others will be much better prepared than their peers coming into this season’s IPL with a lot more match practice under their belt.

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“I would like to say, whichever player plays CPL, there is no guarantee that their performance will be replicated in the IPL, but they will definitely have an edge over the other players. If you reach UAE after playing for a month, it will definitely make a difference, be it Kieron Pollard or Imran Tahir or Rashid Khan,” Nehra said on the Cricket Connected Show on Star Sports.

Weighing in on the expectations from Tahir, Nehra, his former Chennai Super Kings teammate, feels the experience of playing the CPL promises to work well for the South Africa leg-spinner, who has retired from ODI cricket after last year’s World Cup. Nehra reckons that at Tahir’s experience and age, the more games he’ll play, the better he has a chance to deliver for CSK.

“Even today when Imran Tahir takes a wicket, he celebrates like an 18 to 20-year-old player. He is a dedicated player. When we talk about a certain age, when you get to play more matches and get more practice at that age, it is always better. It will be a really good thing for Imran Tahir to play the IPL after playing in the CPL”, Nehra pointed out.