Big stage beckons for Klinger

SOUTH Australian batsman Michael Klinger is set to get an opportunity on the biggest stage in world cricket, after signing with new Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Team Kochi for the next two seasons.

The contract, worth $150,000 over two years, will see Klinger play alongside cricket royalty including Muttiah Muralitharan, as well as Test champions VVS Laxman and Mahela Jayawardene.
“It’s a great opportunity to play on the world stage,” Klinger told The AJN.

“I’m looking forward to talking batting a fair bit with guys like Laxman and Jayawardene, but because there’s so much travelling you also get to spend time with guys from opposition sides. It’s going to be an exciting six or seven weeks over there [in India].

“There’s quite a few Australians in the side who I get along with really well too. I get to team up again with [Bushrangers star batsman] Brad Hodge, who is one of my good mates back in Victoria.”

Several IPL sides showed interest in Klinger as early as September last year, when he was among the leading run-getters in the Twenty20 Champions League in South Africa. The dashing right-hander led the Redbacks superbly against the best club sides from domestic Twenty20 competitions around the world, including three sides from the IPL.

Players can enter the IPL auction at a range of pre-set reserve prices, with Klinger nominating in the lowest bracket of $20,000. But a strong showing at the Champions League last year, a scintillating half-century against Victoria in the Big Bash just days before the auction, as well as favourable timing – players are auctioned in random order, with Klinger benefiting from an early pick – led to a bidding war between Team Kochi and Royal Challengers Bangalore, which inflated his value.

But with only four international players permitted to play each game and few competing international fixtures, how much Klinger gets to play remains to be seen.

“In the position I would likely play – top three top four – there’s Hodge, [Brendan] McCullum, Jayawardene. You’d think someone like Muralitharan would play every game and then there’s only three other spots up for grabs.”

Klinger maintains that even with the rise and rise of the cashed-up short format, national duties remain at the forefront of his mind. He admits, though, that with a national selection panel seemingly bent on youth as Australia looks to re-emerge as a power, his chance might have passed him by. “As a player, your number one goal is to represent your country and for me that’s definitely still the case, but the national selectors are looking to the guys in the early to mid-20s, so my opportunities might be getting slimmer and slimmer,” said Klinger, 30.

But the incentive to perform at the upcoming IPL is high. With seemingly limitless funds pouring into domestic Twenty20 competitions around the world, opportunities for international players will only increase.

“It’s not only an amazing chance to test myself on the world stage, but it can also lead to other opportunities playing in other Twenty20 competitions around the world if you can perform well.”

As of next year, the domestic Twenty20 competition will be changed to a city-based franchise tournament, similar to the IPL, with international players and privately owned teams.

Kochi has a rich Jewish heritage, and is home to the oldest Jewish community in India, the Malabar Jews,  who have a small, but prominent, community.

ADAM KAMIEN