Club vs Country

The fuss of IPL taking toll on players’ presence in Indian team is once again up. With key players like Yuvraj, Sehwag and Gambhir missing West Indies tour due to injuries they caught up during IPL. The players, no matter how much money they are making; just compare it with what the Board is making; then we find that players are in the end victims. The long stretched schedule of IPL has enervated players like Dhoni, Sachin and Zaheer, who are now seeking rest to reenergize. The IPL, now, has become most important cricket tournament in the world, Indian world cup winning players opted to play in IPL, rather taking rest and getting ready for West Indies.

This also raises concerns over players who were playing despite injuries in IPL; only to deplete the side on important tour. India starts tour to West Indies without seven players who were in world cup squad. We already witnessed the side effects of IPL in 2009 and 2010 T20 World Cup, when we couldn’t reach final and defend the title. Several others also played in the IPL but were either injured or rested for international fixtures raising concerns over changing priorities.

Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan have all been allowed to miss matches against the West Indies, despite turning out in the IPL for their respective teams. One player who missed out India test slot was young batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, who played in India’s last test series in South Africa, picked up a knee injury playing for Bangalore Royal Challengers in the IPL and could not be considered for the tests in Caribbean.

Gautam Gambhir, who was supposed to lead for the Twenty20 and ODI, is suffering from a shoulder injury and Yuvraj Singh has been diagnosed having an upper respiratory infection with a small patch of pneumonitis in the left lung. Suresh Raina has been appointed as the new captain for the Twenty20 and ODI matches. Sachin Tendulkar has opted out of the entire tour; however, he revealed that he will be available for the England tour after the West Indies tour.

Also if we look with new players point of view, they got chance to cement their place in team. They should get ample chances to get ready to take place of great players like Sachin, Laxman and Dravid, who may retire in next two to three years. Thus, rest and injuries to key players has given young players a chance to show their potential. Hope young players color the Caribbean nation in Blue color and live up to expectations of cricket lovers.

Tags: Club, Country, Cricket, Cricket Lovers, Gautam Gambhir, India, IPL, West Indies