The IPL Apple!

Once you bite the apple there is no going back! 

The recent performance of Indian team in England needs no introduction. No cricketing team ranked Number One has played as poorly as Indian team did. As if losing a series wasn’t bad enough India didn’t even win a single international game. Not even a single one-day international.
I blame this shameful performance to IPL. 

Gautam Gambhir a good batsman. But along with other ‘giants’ of the game he sucked big time against England. I think he should be dropped from the team not for his poor performance but for his lack of commitment to the cause. He played the World Cup and he must have been tired by the end of it. He also got injured during the world cup but instead of resting and preparing for one of the most important tour of England - place where ball swings viciously– he foolishly opted to play for his IPL team. He played the whole session and got injured some more. But then instead of excusing himself from the Indian team he had audacity to open the innings in the First test. At the back of such a strenuous work load his awful performance in next two tests makes lot of sense. What doesn’t make sense is his decision making ability. And yes, his insatiable grid!
He added another layer of injury during the third test against England and played no role in second and third innings.  (But he still managed to drop two crucial catches when he was on the field) But the agony doesn’t end here. I am talking about my agony! He says he banged his head hard enough to be disoriented for rest of the tour and yet he was playing for his IPL team again in the worthless Champions Trophy 20/20 right after end of England tour. 

IPL is here to stay is quite all right.  I am not against ‘cricketaintment’. I am not against cricketers making millions of dollars for 15 days’ worth of work. They can do whatever they want in their spare time. But they shouldn’t or rather they can’t mess their priorities when it comes to playing for India. IPL is a sport or entertainment, whatever you want to call it. But cricket in India is a different specie and has a storied past. Yes it’s a colonial game but India embraced cricket so readily because Indians got the taste of representing their country, to root for their country long before independence. Representing your country in any sport is a privilege but to do so in Cricket in India is unique. Also the fact that cricket is the only sport on the world level in which India suck less. We have been fielding competitive team since 1950’s. And these teams have given us quite a few moments to cherish. The victories were savored because there was little else to cherish. In 1980’s when India was slowly sinking in the potholes of economic disaster the victory of 1983 world cup was a gift from heavens. For such moments Indian fans elevated cricketers to God like status. Cricket is the only sport worth rooting for. Nobody in India follow Ranaji cricket yet throngs of people show up even if India is playing against Bangladesh or Zimbabwe. 

They are not their only for the love of the sport. Crowd cheer for their country more than they cheer for the game. They want India to win every game against Pakistan. They want the gratification of winning against mighty Australians. Fans identify so much with cricket that they take any real or imagined insult at their cricketers personally. You rarely see Indians uniting against price hike or shitty corrupt politicians but they were on the street s protesting when Sehwag and Tendulkar were banned for a test in South Africa. Tendulkar is Tendulkar because he scores runs for India. He has been behemoth for Mumbai but his claim to fame is being highest run scorer for India. That’s his identity. And no matter how much successful IPL becomes or how much more IPL bastardizes the game, the first and foremost identity of a cricketer will always be his nationality. 

Under such situation it’s insulting to see Gambhir, Khan and Sehwag giving more importance to IPL owners than to India. It’s insulting to see Tendulkar skipping West Indies tour because he was tired from playing in IPL. I am not sure who he is kidding. There are only 8 serious test playing nations in the whole world. And if he is ready to skip playing against one of them so that he can concentrate on IPL then it’s not fair to Indian as well as to the West Indian fans. 

Talking to my brother on this issue he made a valuable counter-argument. BCCI is a heavily political organization unaccountable to the fans, to the government or even to the players. They pick or drop players for no obvious reasons. For example look at Amo Muzumdar’s career. A contemporary of Tendulkar and Kambali and a loyal soldier for Mumbai cricket, Muzumdar is the highest run-scorer of Ranaji trophy. And yet he was never even short-listed for Indian cricket team in any of the format. I mean we have in numerable dud players representing India since 1990’s and yet this behemoth of runs with perfect technique was neglected for no reason whatsoever. 

Under such conditions if Muzumdar had opportunity (he is retired from cricket couple of years ago) to play for IPL and not only make truckloads of money but splash on the national stage then would it be surprising if he shows loyalty to his IPL overlords than Indian cricket team? Probably not but it sure would be sad. Injustice happens to lot of people in India. In fact India is a land of injustice and unfairness. Do Indian soldiers manning Kashmir border get a fair deal? They are putting their life on the line only for politicians sitting in Delhi fuck up the hard won battles. These soldiers are poorly paid (as compared to any IT sector employee) and they get poor equipment to do their job. Would they rather man a rich person’s home just because they will make twice the money doing so? Some of the soldiers would but most of the soldiers do their job because they love their country. 

Indian players should play for the love of the country. I am not saying they shouldn’t worry about the money. They should be able to make as much as money as they can. The reality is, unlike the players of 60’s or 70’s; the current crops of players do make shitload of money playing for India. They are crorepati’s playing only for India. 

IPL is bonus money, a lot of money but still bonus. And as they say, one shouldn't work for the bonus! 

Please also see Suresh Menon’s blog below. His suggestion is spot on!
http://cricketnext.in.com/blogs/sureshmenon/2968/62659/need-a-body-for-the-players-by-the-players.html