India, June 2 -- Sunil Gavaskar has warned IPL franchises against being carried away by performances in state and city leagues, arguing that several big hitters from those competitions were exposed once they faced the higher standard of bowling in the IPL.

The former India captain said the gap between smaller T20 leagues and the IPL remains significant, and franchises risk wasting money if their scouting systems are influenced by hype, agents, and isolated performances rather than repeatable skills.

"A lot of the big hitters in the various State and city leagues that have sprouted up were exposed when faced with the international quality of bowling in the IPL," Gavaskar wrote in his Sportstar column.

His criticism was aimed at the grow...