The schedule for the Indian team throughout 2022 was released. India is set to play 11 tests, 26 ODIs and 20 T20s. This does not take into account the T20 World Cup and the Asia Cup. All of them put together will increase T20s to around 30 games for the whole year. A closer look at the schedule will reveal that the Indian players will be involved every month from January till December. This is absolute madness. The BCCI have gone mad.
I have said this often. The Board of Control for Cricket in India does not really care about Indian cricket or the players. All they worry about is profit and a way to fill their coffers. They will not leave any stone unturned in their quest for money. Under the presidentship of a former captain, things have not improved at all. Infact, it has gone the opposite way. More and more games are planned and the players made to go through the motions. The players are subjected to unspeakable stress. I do not think that the players can voice their opinion against the board. If they do so, they will find themselves out of the team.
Too much travel for too little games
There are some series in the schedule that does not make sense at all. Why would India travel all the way to New Zealand to play just 3 I repeat only 3 ODIs? For that matter, why play South Africa right in the middle of a scorching summer over 5 T20s? Another one. Travel to West Indies for just 3 ODIs and 3 T20s. All these games could have been avoided. Every series must consist of tests, ODIs and T20s.
No team must be made to travel such far distances just to play some meaningless white ball games. This shows the poor planning and co-ordination in the BCCI. It is a board that will one day kill the golden goose that lays the eggs. Ofcourse, some of the biggest stars will skip these games but should that even be permitted when you play for the country? Shouldn’t they instead skip IPL? That leads us to the next big drain on the resources.
IPL is another behemoth
IPL 2022, another behemoth, is not even considered. With an enhanced group of 10 teams, the number of games will increase to over 90. All the Indian players will be expected to play in IPL barring injury. Mainly because they do not have a choice. All of these put together, the Indian players will be on the field for more than 200 days. This does not include the travel time between cities and countries.
Ideally, IPL must not extend beyond a month. Two groups, less games and the entire tournament must be finished in one month. Atleast the players will get one full month to rest and recuperate. Some can work on their technique against moving ball, some can work on increasing pace or improving accuracy. This will ultimately help Indian cricket and we will be able to win more game. However, the BCCI will have none of it. They need their coffers to be full and for that they need their star players to play throughout the year.
The longer BCCI continues with this sort of overkill, the longer it will take for Indian cricket to reach its true height. Even the fans will at one point lose interest in the game. I am actually waiting for that day when 5 sports fights with cricket to gain the spectators attention. The board will then start to lose spectators which will result in less revenue and that will force the board to reform itself. Will that day ever come?
Harsha Bhogle and the number one ranking
“I don’t want to be seen to be poking holes into an outstanding record, but the closer you look into that record, there wasn’t a win in South Africa, there wasn’t a win in New Zealand, there was a 4-1 defeat to England in 2018,” Bhogle said. “This is the easiest time in the history of cricket to be No.1.
“Australia is, despite the 4-0 in the Ashes, not the Australia that we have seen in the past. England are at a low. South Africa are probably at their poorest since readmission, and I know that’s a controversial statement to make. Their bowling side is excellent in those conditions. But this is not the side of Kallis, Amla, de Villiers, Faf, Graeme Smith. You’d have thought India had to beat South Africa in South Africa.”
Harsha is hit the nail on the head. He is absolutely spot on. For any team to be considered as number one, they must have won atleast one series in every country over their entire cricketing history. This must be the minimum requirement. By that yardstick, only England, Australia and South Africa can legitimately claim to be number one when they were actually number one.
The ICC ranking system needs a complete overhaul. India were number one until recently but they didn’t won just 2 series in the SENA countries over that period. How is that worthy of being number one? Take Pakistan who were ranked number one for a brief period. They are yet to win in Australia and South Africa and managed to win a series in West Indies only about 6 years ago. West Indies over the last 25 years is not that worthy of being a top test cricket nation any longer.
Other BCCI related blogs can be read here, here, here, here, here