The supporters are the fools

Yes, I do mean it. The supporters are the fools. Yes, because It is official now. What was expected at Rajkot, happened or will happen in Ranchi. Jasprit Bumrah has been rested from the Ranchi game. This is so disappointing. Let us remember the fact that the series has not yet been won. Also, let us remember the fact that England has won one Test in this series already. They could have won one more if not for the brilliance of Bumrah. The fact that India is ahead in this series is only because of 2 players and one of them is Bumrah. The English batsmen are terrified of facing upto him. They invariably try to play normally against him and take their chances against the rest of the bowlers.

Bumrah’s mastery of the old ball is another facet of his game that the English batsmen are wary of. Now, they can afford to relax. His replacement, most likely to be Mukesh Kumar, is like canon fodder for them. Mukesh hardly got to bowl in the only game he has played. I have said this before and I will say this again. Why cannot he be given a break from the IPL if it is a case of injury management? Afterall, India get to play one more World Cup just after the IPL. As has been the case for the past several years, the Indians will be tired and worn out by the time of the World Cup and they will be like lambs to the slaughter.

Frequent breaks are necessary but

I do agree that workload management is essential to preserve players with rare abilities. They need to be handled with great care. All the more so in the case of Bumrah whose peculiar action puts a lot of stress on the lower back and on the knees. He is not yet 30 and with careful management, he can contribute to the team for another 5-7 years. However, why is it that this aspect of the game comes into the equation only when anyone plays for India? We have witnessed several such instances when various players were rested.

Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been given frequent breaks in the garb of preserving them though in the case of Kohli, I perfectly agree because he needed that break to rejuvenate himself. The results are there for all to see. Shami, Jadeja and a few others were also from time to time, given breaks. Come IPL, they will all be playing in every game irrespective of whether their team has a chance to progress to the next round. I am not at all against such breaks. Indians do play far too many games compared to the rest of the world. The situation of the all-format players is even more dire.

Again, I failed to understand how is that everyone plays every game in the IPL? This is flabbergasting. Who makes such decisions? Is it the team management or is it the board? Or is it the players themselves? It is time the board, the players and the management realise that they are the stars only because of the supporters. These supporters support them just because they are playing for the nation. We fulfil our dreams through our players.

Several reasons

One of the reasons is that Bumrah has already bowled 80 overs in the series so far whereas he will bowl a maximum of 100 overs in the IPL. My point is, why does he even have to bowl those 100 overs? He can as well bowl the same volume in the current series and skip the entire IPL thereby managing his injury.

What is IPL?

What is the IPL for that matter? It is nothing but a glorified domestic Indian captain where every Indian player worth the salt is engaged. It is played predominantly among the Indian first-class players with a sporadic sprinkling of foreigners. Does the Indian Board of the ICC think that they promote the game through IPL and the various leagues around the world? They certainly are not. The foreign-born players are in it for the money. For a cricketer, the money that IPL dishes out is obscene. It probably is way too less when compared to a football player but for cricket, it is enormous.

Just consider the fact how many games does a foreigner play? Take the case of Kyle Jamieson. RCB bought him for a whopping 15CR. How many games did he play? At the most, 5-6. He wasn’t even injured post that. There are several such instances throughout the history of the IPL. They may play the game seriously whenever they are in the playing eleven but ultimately, it is about money. Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins have been bought for more than 20CR this time around. This despite the fact the Cummins when he was part of the KKR side, he was dropped multiple times due to poor performance.

The game is not spreading

If the ICC or for that matter, any board thinks that they are spreading the game through franchise cricket, they are living in fools paradise. I do not see a future where either China or America taking up the game. The American U-19 squad is nothing but an extension of the Indian team. They will not be able to differentiate between the gloves of the batsman with that of the keeper. I do not want to see, though it will never happen, a Test match between China and America or for that matter, between Paraguay and Guatemala.

Wrapping up the supporters are the fools

We the supporters are not immune from blame. It is time we stop watching all and sundry games. There are so many of us who will watch games in Kakinada league. BCCI realises this weakness of ours and does not care about the game or the players or the dignity of the national team. I know that I am among the miniscule minority but I have to say this because the supporters are the fools.