Under Ben Stokes, England has attained a level where no other cricketing nation has gone before. The transformation of Test cricket that he helped herald, which is known as Bazball, has captured the imagination of every cricket supporter. Stokes is already being talked about being the best English cricket captain. There are some illustrious names in the that. As for Bumrah, well he has been injured for quite sometime now but it is expected that he will make himself available for the IPL. I read one interesting topic about Bumrah where a former cricketer claims that the board will withdraw Bumrah from some games. There was another article, this time about Stokes who will leave the IPL earlier. The contrasting tale of Bumrah and Stokes.
Let me start off with Bumrah
Bumrah hasn’t played competitive cricket for well over 6 months. Aakash Chopra has suggested that the Mumbai Indians, for whom Bumrah plays in the IPL, will have to listen to the BCCI to monitor the workload of Bumrah during the IPL.
“You are an Indian player first, and then comes the franchise. If the pacer feels discomfort, the BCCI will tell Mumbai Indians that Bumrah is unavailable. The world won’t end if he doesn’t play seven games with Jofra Archer,” he said on his YouTube channel.
“If the player is fit, you must monitor his workload. If the BCCI says to rest him for a few games, MI can’t say no. Bumrah is a national treasure, and things aren’t difficult to manage,” he added
The do not care attitude of the board
When I read this, I could only chuckle. When has the BCCI cared about the national team? Never ever. They keep on arranging lots and lots of meaningless games. The ODI and T20 series against New Zealand and Sri Lanka just before the Australian series being a case in point. The board is hellbent on destroying Indian cricket as against growing the game. The players are constantly shuffled from one series to another. The hotel stay, the travel and various other things makes playing for the team unattractive. A few years ago, when India were scheduled to travel to South Africa, the team had a gap of about a month to prepare. It is one nation where India has never won a series in over 30 years.
This time must have been used to travel to South Africa, play in a series of first class game, get adjusted to the conditions and then approach the series. What did the BCCI do? They organised a series against Sri Lanka so that the team were not only jaded but did not have the much needed practise in South Africa. Likewise, the history of Indian cricket is littered with lot of examples which proves that the board does not really care about the players, the game or the reputation of the team.
Mumbai players’s passion
Such a board, how can they be expected to ask an IPL franchise to not play their best bowler? It is simply impossible. First, the board will not do so. Second, the captain of Mumbai Indians, Rohit Sharma, will not be pleased to rest Bumrah even for a single game. It was the same Rohit who had categorically rejected rest for Bumrah just before the 2019 ODI World Cup. Poor Bumrah. He played in all the 14 games without a break. Manjrekar in his autobiography, revealed that Mumbai cricketers are much more likely to play with passion for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy than while playing for India. Rohit only confirmed that with his rejection of resting Bumrah.
Stokes in contrast
Stokes has confirmed that he will cut short his IPL tenure to prepare for Ireland and The Ashes. The final of the IPL 2023 is scheduled just 4 days prior to the start of the test against Ireland. Now, this is just Ireland and England are anyway expected to win that with or without Stokes. Especially, given their current form. Despite that, Stokes still wants to be present for the game. Yes, he is the captain but even the captain can afford to skip some games. Not Stokes and not while playing for England. It shows his commitment. It shows what matters more. IPL or real cricket.
Stokes is experiencing an incredible run of wins. Ofcourse, he will want to be present for each and every game that England plays but what standsout in contrast to Bumrah is his willingness to expend himself eventhough the opponent is only Ireland.
Wrapping up the contrasting tale of Bumrah and Stokes
Aakash Chopra must think before he speaks. When it comes to the Board Of Control for Cricket in India, their first aim is to make money. Lots of it. Welfare of the players, reputation of the team and by extension the country is an afterthought.
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