Before the previous edition of IPL, BCCI allowed Pakistani players to present themselves for auctions, but IPL franchises did not take interest in Pakistani players and they remained unsold. Infact best Pakistani players of T20 like Shahid Afridi, Umer Gul and Muhammad Amir were available for auction but IPL franchises ignored them. Now why it happened. The only cause may be political. But that was a true face of the working procedure of the IPL franchises. It means that these franchises are not free in selection of players. These franchises are fully controlled by BCCI and even they are buying the players on the directions of BCCI. All this drama was planned for mortifying Pakistani stars. This was a very loath act from BCCI and Indian government who used the game as political weapon and blackmailing tool.
Steve Buckner was a reliable and respected Umpire of cricket world. Supervision in final of 1992 world cup was an acknowledgement of his abilities in the field. But when his some decisions in Australia went against India, Indian board started blaming him. And ICC finally removed him from Umpiring on the pressure of BCCI in an ongoing series between India and Australia. Here the duty of ICC was to protect him, but despite protecting him ICC accompanied BCCI. This was a clear message from BCCI to all umpires that BCCI can even end their career if they make BCCI unhappy.
Now-a-days India is a growing economy of the world because of her huge population. Therefore, huge amount is involved as sponsorship in Indian cricket. Because cricket is a most popular game of India. Due to this huge amount of sponsorship IPL is also awarding handsome amount to the players as auction deal through franchises. So, in this commercial world of cricket, the only aim of playing IPL for foreign cricketers is earning money. These players know that making BCCI unhappy can cause them loss of the deal. Therefore, it is natural that these players may have concern of losing deal while playing against India. The examples of Steve Buckner and Pakistani players are good enough as lesson for these IPL playing cricketers. Some performances of IPL players are acknowledging this fact. The performance of Muthian Muralitharan in final match was shocking. He remained wicketless in this important match of final which is unusual. Even he did not register any strong appeal against any Indian player. This is not his class. His wife is Indian and he has announced that he will play IPL continuously after retirement.
Kieron Pollard of West Indies who is popular as hard hitter in IPL, did not perform according to his reputation on Indian pitches against India. Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara missed a very crucial run out of Gutham Gambir when he did not collect the ball, and Gambir later on scored 97 runs in final. Kumar Sangakkara is a perfect wicketkeeper and this miss was unusual from him. Ground fielding of some Sri Lankan players was also not according to the reputation. Several runs were scored on over throws. One easy dropped catch of Gutham Gambir is also on the credit of Sri Lankan fielding. Now one can ask that what was happened to Pakistani players when they dropped 4 catches against India in Semi Final. The answer is that Pakistan’s fielding is not perfect from the beginning. The same type of opportunities they missed against Sri Lanka in group match. But Sri Lankan fielding is famous for perfection. It was different against other nations in group matches. South African batsman Jean-Paul Duminy is famous as good finisher. But against India he threw his wicket when South Africa was expecting match winning performance from him. These examples are enough for understanding the matter. Infact these IPL players will always be in pressure when ever they will be playing against India. This is a very huge advantage for Indian team. But I am in doubt, is this situation is in favour of cricket? Is IPL not a blackmailing tool of BCCI? Can players perform against India under the fear of losing IPL deal?
The examples of Steve Buckner and Pakistani players are good enough as lesson for these IPL playing cricketers. Some performances of IPL players are acknowledging this fact.
ReplyDeleteIPL is a business, it is run by owners and their investors. Their decision to invest (their) money in a player is influenced by many factors including political interference. It would be fair to say that Pakistani politicians/military interfere in cricket. Their signatures on NOC does not really carry weight. Look at what Sri Lanka is doing now. Do you think you would invest in a player if you think he would damage your brand?
ReplyDeleteIf you don't understand how a business works, whatever you write is just emotional trash sprinkled with sporadic events.