Wake-up Call
Gopal Sharma

IndiaN cricket has been jolted like never before. Probably it wasn’t even shaken so much when the match-mixing scandal hit international cricket more than half a decade ago. What the newly launched Indian Cricket League has done is causing sleepless nights to not only the BCCI, but the cricket boards round the globe.

The developments the ICL has triggered could well have been described as a figment of imagination not long ago. Who would have thought earlier that someone as prodigiously talented as Ambati Rayudu, rated nearly as good as Sachin Tendulkar even when he was still in his teens, would quit his Ranji squad and join the breakaway league. Rayudu is still only 22 and had ample time at his disposal to realise his dreams.

Young Punjab off-spinner Rajesh Sharma made an impression at the start of his Ranji career. When chosen for the North for zonal tournaments, Rajesh again impressed. Reports said he was in line for selection to the India A squad, though for a brief period he came under the cloud of ‘chucking’.

Though he could not encash the recent chances, former Punjab skipper Dinesh Mongia was not yet over the hill, while the likes of Reetinder Sodhi and Ishan Malhotra had a couple of years of cricket left in them.

The desertion by so many other players from Hyderabad, Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh points to a deeper malaise afflicting Indian cricket. Financial considerations can be the key reason for the upcoming youngsters from not-so-well-off families and not for someone who has played the game at the highest level for a considerable period of time.

The developments leading up to the build-up of a virtual controversy and the consequent sacking of the World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev as chairman of the National Cricket Academy and the earlier handling of the issue of selection of the coach for the Indian team testify to the way the show is run.

Earlier, redoubtable Erapalli Prasanna, the best off-spinner the country has produced, caused consternation when, citing discontentment as the reason, decided to align with the rebel league.

For the players blessed with big talent and who gave glimpses of making it big in the world of cricket, the move is nothing less than stunningly bold and laudatory. If more than half the members of a team decide to defect in one go, financial gain could not probably be the sole reason for the exodus. It is due to these players who have stuck their necks out that those running the show have been forced to sit back and take note of the developments. It is because of them that that a rattled BCCI in its general body meeting in Mumbai loosened its purse-strings and announced a slew of financial incentives for players.

The real fight for encashing the craze and euphoria of the people for cricket in this part of the world has now begun. The road ahead for the ICL will be extremely bumpy. The problems are immense. The first and foremost problem will be dealing with the respective cricket boards, which have been quick to warn players against falling to the lure of lucre. Besides, the ICC is bound to toe the BCCI’s line. Lack of well-equipped grounds and other infrastructure, dearth of qualified umpires and referees and the absence of current playing cricket stars, which is an absolute must for it to gain credibility, may continue to haunt the ICL.

It would require a Herculean effort from it to come anywhere near the established boards, which have been controlling the destinies of big stars for decades. Only the intent, howsoever genuine it may be, financial muscle or the presence of some disenchanted players and former stars would not be enough for it to emerge as a good alternative for aspiring and budding players.

However, the joining of established stars like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Brian Lara, Lance Klusener or Nicky Boje and, of course, the Ranji players who were an integral part of their teams has given the ICL a heady start.

On its part, the ICL deserves credit for buffeting and shaking a behemoth that had been exercising unbridled powers and pelf for decades. The knee-jerk reaction as shown by the tough posturing as well as abrupt announcement of largesse for the players in Mumbai on Tuesday testifies that the BCCI has realised the enormity of the situation.

Well begun, they say, is half done. "Aur nahin to kam se kam yeh Kumbhkaran apni lambi neend se jagega to sahi," the inimitable Navjot Sidhu summed up the other day!