MUMBAI, 24 August 2007 — We are witness to what surely must be the biggest showdown in Indian cricket, and one is not talking of the battle on the field, but in the precincts of the game’s administration, or rather its control.
The Indian Cricket League, floated by Zee TV network and headed by Kapil Dev, fired its first effective salvo when it paraded 40 players already booked by contracts. Since the flavor is international, the other countries cannot but be drawn into an unseemly controversy as well.
Former captain Inzamam ul-Haq leads a formidable quartet from Pakistan which includes, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammed Yousuf and Imran Farhat. Add these names to the claims already made of the inclusion of world record-holder Brian Lara, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, and perhaps that is all the ICL will have at the moment to show for big value.
The big contingent of players from India, which Kapil Dev described as “the cream of Indian cricket,” does not include even one player from the mainstream Indian team. There are a just a handful who have had limited stints at the international level and are now in the long list of discards. Several of the others are not even regular for their states at the highest domestic stage.
Except for Abdul Razzaq and Mohammed Yousuf, the rest of the international players are from the “retired” group. Even the two Pakistanis named herewith have probably decided to walk out of the national team on account of their personal frustration, for not being conferred the captaincy or for being dropped repeatedly.
Will the motley names already announced be attractive enough to steal the thunder from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The BCCI hasn’t lost a single player of any value. Pakistan, on its part, will feel the absence of Razzaq and Yousuf. But the better way of looking at it is that no player, however big, is indispensable. Their absence will create opportunities for younger players who have been biding their time.
The BCCI has already announced that players who have links with ICL will not enjoy any facilities, nor the opportunity of selection to the state and Indian teams. The PCB has also decide to suspend those players who have thrown in their lot with the rival promotion.
The major problem that the ICL is expected to face is the lack of standard cricket venues in India and elsewhere. Money can buy faded players, but it cannot fetch traditional cricket venues. There are not many good football grounds in India which can be used with drop-in wickets that Kerry Packer did in Australia more than three decades ago. When asked about the availability of international umpires, the answer was that they would train their own umpires. That again is a concession prevailing norms of the game at the international level.
