There's one stream of thought that says that players are free to choose what they want to do in their life while other school of thought says that playing for country must (not should) come first and foremost for any player.
We all know that this is not the first time this has come up. This time the center of debate is our Gautam Gambhir. While in past this special place has been taken up many times by different players when they chose to take a break from a series. Another instance comes to mind instantly is when it was decided that 'Commonwealth games' wasn't as important as playing in 'Sahara Cup' We might remember sending the weakest possible team to the CW games to represent India in 1998 while the full fledged team participated in Sahara cup to represent 'BCCI'. This time it's the question between BCCI or the IPL sponsor let alone playing for country Vs BCCI.
I am sure this must be very tough for players also; constantly thinking about who they are playing for. It is such a relief that ICL (remember it?) turned out to be a flop show. If ICL had got hold of these players; I don't want to imagine a situation where Gambhir is playing for 'Delhi Giants' in Feb; for 'Delhi Daredevils' in May ; for BCCI in July and 'Royal Stag' and other advertisers in rest of the year (well forget about playing for Delhi itself in Ranji Trophy).
Talk about having many bosses !
Well in this whole mess of a situation, I wouldn't really want to add another complication by questioning player's moral and asking them to justify their choices. Soon will come a time when players will have hard time remembering who they represent.
What is then the best way out for players and cricket fans?
I would really like if players decide that they play for cricket fans; they play for people. I know this sounds most cliched but there isn't a better solution. As a cricket fan, I would like to see a good old fight between bat and ball. I dread the day when Zaheer decides not to bowl at his full run-up to avoid getting injured or Sehwag decides not to play upper cut so that he can still play in some other series.
I want nothing more than players giving their 100% on the field no matter who they are playing for.
So at the risk of sounding old fashioned and most cliched, I request players to play for us ; play for the people who come to see you play.
We all know that this is not the first time this has come up. This time the center of debate is our Gautam Gambhir. While in past this special place has been taken up many times by different players when they chose to take a break from a series. Another instance comes to mind instantly is when it was decided that 'Commonwealth games' wasn't as important as playing in 'Sahara Cup' We might remember sending the weakest possible team to the CW games to represent India in 1998 while the full fledged team participated in Sahara cup to represent 'BCCI'. This time it's the question between BCCI or the IPL sponsor let alone playing for country Vs BCCI.
I am sure this must be very tough for players also; constantly thinking about who they are playing for. It is such a relief that ICL (remember it?) turned out to be a flop show. If ICL had got hold of these players; I don't want to imagine a situation where Gambhir is playing for 'Delhi Giants' in Feb; for 'Delhi Daredevils' in May ; for BCCI in July and 'Royal Stag' and other advertisers in rest of the year (well forget about playing for Delhi itself in Ranji Trophy).
Talk about having many bosses !
Well in this whole mess of a situation, I wouldn't really want to add another complication by questioning player's moral and asking them to justify their choices. Soon will come a time when players will have hard time remembering who they represent.
What is then the best way out for players and cricket fans?
I would really like if players decide that they play for cricket fans; they play for people. I know this sounds most cliched but there isn't a better solution. As a cricket fan, I would like to see a good old fight between bat and ball. I dread the day when Zaheer decides not to bowl at his full run-up to avoid getting injured or Sehwag decides not to play upper cut so that he can still play in some other series.
I want nothing more than players giving their 100% on the field no matter who they are playing for.
So at the risk of sounding old fashioned and most cliched, I request players to play for us ; play for the people who come to see you play.
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