The club vs nation debate is a big mess in cricket.
It has already gripped the West Indies’ cricket players, who are more often seen playing in a T20 league rather than playing for the Windies.
Fortunately, this mess has hardly happened with Indian players. Hardly any player has ever put club – their IPL teams – over the nation.
Players like Ravichandran Ashwin and Murali Vijay (both in 2017) and Mohammed Shami (in 2015) missed out on playing the complete season of the league due to injuries that they suffered while on national duty.
But sometimes, the choice to play for clubs even in pain has crept in.
In 2011, Gautam Gambhir played IPL with a shoulder issue suffered during the 2011 World Cup, which resulted in him being ruled out of the subsequent tour of the West Indies, where he was meant to lead the team in the limited-overs format.
Gambhir’s name was the first one that was up for auction that year and he was paid a hefty sum. How he could have missed the league for KKR after being bought for a humongous price?
IPL 2019 is totally different from past editions.
For the first time in the history of the league, the World Cup will follow the T20 tournament and it will be a litmus test for national players – especially fast bowlers – to see whether they would be ready to give up club duty for national duty.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli, head coach Ravi Shastri and former players have had already expressed their concerns.
(AFP/Sajjad Hussain/Getty Images)
Indian legend Anil Kumble, who also coached the Indian team (2016-17), called for the bowlers to be rested. He also stated that this may not impress franchises.
“One of the most important parts of preparation will be keeping the bowlers fresh as there is a lot of cricket coming up from now till the start of the World Cup,” Kumble said.
“Even though franchisees may not like the idea of resting India bowlers, but for the country’s sake, it has to be considered.”
Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni was of a different opinion and said the bowlers should compete in the IPL.
“Keeping our bowlers injury-free will be very, very important,” he said.
“If you rest them, the first thing commentators say is they are rusty. And if you make him play, then is he fresh.
“The fine balance is something difficult to manage but if you can manage your schedule, the four overs won’t make you tired.
“What is important is what you do after bowling those four overs. The four-over games actually keep you at your best – you are bowling the yorkers, bowling the variation and playing under pressure.”
It’s on the bowlers to pick and choose games.
Of course, the pressure from a franchise would always be there to play all matches.
Why not? Mumbai Indians shelled out a big sum of ₹7 crores ($1.4 million) to retain Jasprit Bumrah. Sunrisers Hyderabad disbursed ₹8.5 crores ($1.7 million) to retain Bhuvneshwar Kumar and also made him vice-captain, ahead of Shikhar Dhawan. Mohammed Shami has been paid ₹4.8 crores ($1 million) by Kings XI Punjab.
The last time Bhuvneshwar Kumar pushed himself to play a match – the third ODI vs England in 2018 – he was then ruled out of the five-match Test series against England.
He lost his spot in the starting line-up in the longest format of the game and is yet to play a Test match since January 2018.
With the World Cup starting less than 20 days after the completion of IPL, the bowlers will be in focus when they stroll out for their respective franchises.
Batsmen might also be under the microscope on all occasions.
Last year, Indian skipper Virat Kohli went on to play the league with a neck issue that virtually ruled him out of his county stint with Surrey, where he was to prepare for the England tour.
He has taken extra rest in the last year and in this IPL, the workload of the World Cup-bound players will be scrutinised heavily.
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