Easy life, free booze and parties part of IPL culture: Jesse Ryder

Wellington (New Zealand), July 1 (ANI): Out-of-favour New Zealand cricketer Jesse Ryder, who has admitted to have hit rock bottom in his international sporting career, has revealed that the four year old Indian Premier League (IPL) is one big party.

"It's an easy life over there. They (IPL franchisees) look after you so well and there's so many parties and at those parties, there's free booze," Fairfax Sports quotes Ryder, as saying.

He said that he was quite relieved to get through this year's edition of the IPL without making a nuisance of himself through his bouts of drunken behavior.

"Unlike the past, I got through it (IPL) easy without drinking or incident. I think the whole reason for that is, that for the first time, this is my call to stop the drinking. This time it's not about having everyone else push me into it. In the past, I've just been frustrated the whole time, you know? But this time, it was my call. It's all on me. I want to do this for myself."

Ryder's success on the drinking front also has a lot to do with the network of support people he has surrounded himself with.

In April, he paid for clinical psychologist Karen Nimmo to join him during the early stages of the Indian Premier League before his manager, Aaron Klee, arrived to take the reins.

With someone always on hand to keep him company, Ryder felt no urge to drown his loneliness in a bottle or five of Kingfisher's finest beer. (ANI)