South African batsman Rilee Rossouw has reignited the Indian Premier League (IPL) vs Pakistan Super League (PSL) debate by comparing the Indian tournament to a “movie”. After playing unsuccessfully for four IPL franchises in the past, Rossouw, who last played for the Proteas in 2023, is currently plying his trade in the PSL for Quetta Gladiators.
In a recent interview, the left-handed Rossouw drew attention with his bizarre remark while explaining the pros and cons of the leagues. The 36-year-old also said that PSL is more about entertainment while PSL offers fierce competition on the field.
“The IPL is a very long tournament and the PSL is a much more compact tournament where the competition is much fiercer. Of course, the IPL is backed by all of Bollywood, so it’s much more of a movie than actual cricket,” said Rossouw, who played for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings during his IPL stint.
Since the beginning of IPL, Bollywood (Hindi film industry) has played a big role. While actors Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla co-own the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise, Priety Zinta owns the Punjab Kings franchise. Shilpa Shetty also owned the Rajasthan Royals franchise for many years.
The PSL was born eight years after the IPL came into being in 2008. It is no secret that PSL is far behind IPL in terms of competitiveness and quality. Meanwhile, Rossouw’s comments have not gone down well with fans.
“PSL is more competitive than Pakistan’s T20 side getting knocked out in the group stage itself in an ICC tournament,” one user scoffed on X (formerly Twitter) following Rossouw’s comment. “A movie than real cricket? Man ask your countries legends about ipl. Thing is you don’t get picked in ipl that’s why you are so salty,” said another.
“Why are they so obsessed with IPL. No one asking any IPL player to compare the body weights of these leagues. Same story every year. Jab inke dimag me hi inferiority complex hai toh kuch nhi ho skta inka,” said one user.
How has IPL helped Indian cricket?
The introduction of IPL has greatly helped Indian cricket. After the introduction of the IPL, the Indian team won the T20 World Cup twice (2024 and 2026), finished as runners-up once (2014) and reached the semi-finals in 2016 and 2022. In comparison, since the start of the PSL in 2016, Pakistan have been runners-up in 2022, the 21st Men20 in Green semi-final group stage appearance in 2024.
Rilee Rossouw in IPL and PSL – Everything you need to know
Rossouw was first selected in the IPL in 2011 by RCB but did not make his debut until 2014, playing five matches for the Bengaluru franchise. After 2015, Rossouw had to wait eight years before getting an IPL contract with Delhi Capitals, where he played nine matches without success. In the 2024 season, he was part of the Punjab Kings team and finished second. In 22 IPL matches, Rossouw managed 473 runs at an average of 23.65.
Rossouw is a PSL regular and has been part of the tournament since its inception. He made his debut for Quetta Gladiators and moved to Multan Sultans after the first three seasons. The South African returned to Quetta Gladiators after spending four seasons with Multan Sultans. In all, Rossouw is one short to play a century in PSL games, scoring 2366 runs, including three hundreds and 11 fifties.
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