Time for BCCI to do some hard thinking as Gambhir joins Sehwag in the sidelines
Time for BCCI to do some hard thinking
Kolkata captain Gautam Gambhir (R) winces in pain after injuring his shoulder during their IPL match between Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai © AFP[/caption] By Suneer Chowdhary It was a day of double whammy for Gautam Gambhir; after enduring the misfortune of seeing his team, Kolkata Knight Riders, miss out a direct berth in the Champions League, he also learnt that his nagging shoulder injury would keep him out of action for six weeks. It meant missing out on India’s forthcoming tour of West Indies. The sidelining of Gambhir means India have now lost both their world class openers for a tour where the staple diet would be pace. The twin blows are huge for India considering that it’s the consistent performances of Sehwag and Gambhir at the start that have contributed much to India’s success and allowed the strong middle-order to bat with freedom. The much-debated Club versus Country debate will raise its head again. And this debate would have nothing to do with providing the IPL with a window in the international cricket calendar. Indian players did not have to battle with the dilemma as there are no international commitments for them when the IPL is under way. The heartburn would be about players burning themselves out for franchisees and missing out on national duty due to the wear and tear their bodies endure because of inadequate rest and recuperation. Make no mistakes – the IPL is long and gruelling. And considering that most Indian internationals are either captains of IPL teams or are playing vital roles for their sides in the tournament, it means almost all the key Indian players are subjected to heavy work schedule. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin have all played all the games. Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel and Harbhajan Singh and a few others have probably missed not more than a game. The energy-sapping weather and back-breaking travel only heightens the players’ woes. Unfortunately, the BCCI has decided to go the other way. The latest purported plan is to have qualifier for the Champions League T20 that will also see teams from the West Indies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand, to decide which two will go through to the Champions League. This could mean that apart from the three IPL teams directly qualifying for the Champions League T20, a fourth – in all probability Kolkata Knight Riders – will have to go through a six-match qualifier tournament to go through to the main event. The only rehabilitation time for the players would be during the international fixtures – especially those which aren’t too financially enticing for the board. A series against West Indies, Bangladesh and ever New Zealand could be reduced to nothing but an A tour. Interestingly, the last time West Indies played a Test in India was nine years back. Remarkably, Bangladesh have never played a Test in India since they became full nation and with the advent of such injuries induced by the lack of rest, it is no-brainer to assume that it is the quality of international cricket series will go drastically lower. (Suneer is a Mumbai-based cricket writer and can be contacted at suneerchowdhary@gmail.com and Tweets here @suneerchowdhary)