With almost 100 days of continuous international cricket coming up for top Indian players, is a tournament like the IPL ill-conceived? Top international players dodge turning out for their respective countries, making one wonder whether playing for the nation is a sportsperson’s ultimate dream, anymore.

Within weeks of India winning the World Cup, an opinion poll conducted by a leading telecom company saw some interesting comments. As top players like Chris Gayle and Lasith Malinga chose to play the cash-rich Indian Premier League ahead of their national teams, and a clutch of senior Indian pros wanted to skip the tour of the Caribbean, devotees of the purest form of the game went to the extent of calling their favourite cricketers “Mercineries”!

The World Cup, between February 19 and April 2, was surely a demanding test of mental and physical stamina of the world’s leading players, especially those from India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. While the high of victory helps atigue, it is well nigh impossible to conquer physical exhaustion, especially when an outdoor sport like cricket is played under oppressive climatic conditions.

The histrionics associated with the irrepressible club versus country row has hitherto been confined mainly to soccer or rugby. Invariably, any international friendly in the middle of high-stakes leagues like the English Premiership, the Spanish La Liga or the Italian Serie A sees club managers clashing with national team bosses.

Anthony Eastwood writes in www.caughtoffside.com how some club managers and the hierarchy within the Premier League condemn international friendlies as “nuisance” and “too physically demanding on the players”. Whilst the latter is an argument that is fairly conceivable, the former paints an all too familiar picture of the declining importance of international football.

It is not just the clubs and the Premier League at fault for this arrogance. The players themselves contribute to this mindset, with the increasingly frequent pick-and-choose mentality of making themselves available for their country when it suits them. During this season of the IPL, the pick-and-choose trend seems to have clearly caught up with cricketers like Gayle and Malinga. Reportedly, quite a few senior pros like Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virender Sehwag wanted to skip the tour of the West Indies starting on June 4, just less than a week from the 51-day IPL ending!

Malinga’s decision to quit Test cricket in the middle of the IPL is an interesting case study.

His sudden announcement that he would quit the purest form of the game evoked more curiosity than natural acceptance. Malinga quit at a time when the Sri Lankan Board wanted its players to return early from the IPL and prepare for the England tour under new skipper, Tillekeratne Dilshan. Apparently nursing an injury, questions were raised as to how Malinga was representing Mumbai Indians when he was not available for his country! Though it was mentioned that Malinga was hurt because his commitment for Sri Lanka had been doubted, it actually made more ‘business’ sense for the yorker magician to prolong his T20 career, rather than burn himself out playing Test cricket. A few more editions of IPL will surely do Malinga’s burgeoning bank balance a world of good! The choice was, therefore, obvious.

Most conflicts between cricketers and their country Boards arise out of salaries. Even the richest cricket body in the world, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has had many differences over cash incentives or facilities provided to players. More recently, after India regained the World Cup after a gap of 28 years, a collective ‘demand’ from Team Dhoni forced the BCCI to double the cash incentive to Rs 2 crore per player. Not all cricket boards can afford to do this.

To hell with patriotism, Gayle’s audacity to skip the home series against Pakistan and turn out for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL instead, is a clear case of pick-and-choose policy where a club pales country into insignificance. Simply put, there is no love for the country if there is no money. The West Indies cricket board is one of the poorest pay-masters and Caribbean players have struck work several times in the past. Thus, Gayle, a former captain, is happier scoring runs and making a fast buck from the Vijay Mallya-funded Bangalore club.

After all, IPL is a BCCI-blessed property that has a bright future and a good show will only help the big-hitting Jamaican command a whopping pay packet in the auctions next year. Ironically, a former Knight Rider, Gayle was one of the star players who went unsold in the auctions in January this year!

Gayle is not the only person who has tasted big money by playing for private teams and in non-ICC recognized tournaments like IPL. Former England star Andrew Flintoff chose a similar path and in the IPL 2 auctions, Chennai Super Kings bought the fiery all-rounder for a record $1.55 million. But recurring knee injuries bludgeoned Flintoff’s future in the IPL as an overdose of unstructured cricket took a heavy toll on the big Lancastrian.

Burnout is the greatest fear plaguing modern day cricketers.

The ICC doesn’t recognize tournaments like the IPL. Appeals for separate windows for the IPL or its international version, the Champions League T20, have been rejected, leading to superpower cricket Boards like the BCCI to find gaps in the ICC calendar and schedule such demanding and explosive events. The sheer might of money has gagged the power of expressions of even a straight-forward Dhoni, voted recently by Time magazine as among the top-100 decision-makers in the world. Dhoni has often scoffed at the choc-a-bloc cricket calendar but has stayed in the good books of the administration by leading Chennai Super Kings, a team financed by the controversial BCCI secretary, N. Srinivasan.

Unlike a 38-year-old Sachin Tendulkar, who has remained spectacularly fit in spite of playing all formats of the game for over two decades. The lifespan of a Generation Next cricketer like a Virat Kohli or a Suresh Raina or even a Dhoni is relatively shorter.

Today, it’s just not about playing a game of cricket. It is all about endorsements, sponsors commitments, criss-crossing the globe at a frenetic pace and living out of a suitcase.

Passion and loyalty are definitely taking a back seat. In a world where the fittest survive, money and success go hand-in-hand. A top Indian cricketer is worth crores and it makes sense to make hay when the sun shines. After all, cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties!

It is a sad indictment of the game, indicative of the culture and mentality of the modern professional. But it is reality.

by Soumitra Bose