No one willing to bell the cat when it comes to IPL, ICC trophies?

Unusually for an Indian captain, just before the IPL, Rohit Sharma has been quite vocal about prioritising Team India’s interest vis-a-vis the respective franchises. The moment his team secured the berth for the WTC final during the Ahmedabad Test against the Australians, the Indian skipper was clear about how to make a balance between country versus club (red ball vs white ball).

"Around May 21, there will be six teams which will be possibly out of the IPL play-off contention, and so, whichever players are available, we will try and find time to get them to (the) UK as early as possible," he had said in a post-match press conference.

Not only that, he even went on to suggest that the fast bowlers will be made to practise with Dukes balls, which are used in England and behave differently than the SG leather balls in India or the Kookaburra. The pro-active approach from the Indian captain was understandable.

Despite India’s tremendous success in Test cricket, of late, and in the bilateral ODI and T20I series, the failure to win a World Cup in either format since 2011 is something which troubles and pains every Indian cricketer. After failing to win the T20 World Cup in Australia last year, the 35-year-old captain knows how unforgiving fans can be after one more failure in the high-profile ICC events.

However, IPL is a different beast, and, no matter what, it is extremely difficult to practically enforce something on the various teams which may hurt them if they prioritise the interest of Indian cricket. If ever there has been a classic example of the proverbial who will bell the cat in Indian cricket, it is this dilemma. And hence, the mellowing tone of the Indian captain after the ODI series loss against Australia wasn’t too surprising.

"I mean, it is all up to the franchises now. The franchises own them [the players] now, so we have given some indications or some kind of borderline kind of thing to the teams. But at the end of the day, it is up to the franchise, and, most importantly, it is the players you know, they have to take care of their own body," Rohit said after the third ODI against Australia in Chennai.

"They [players] are all adults. So, they have to look after themselves and if they feel that it is getting a little too much, they can always talk about it and have a break in one or two games. I doubt [if] that will happen but," added the skipper.

Injuries, workload management big concerns

While Team India had already lost two of the key players in the Test format, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant (former due to a recurring back injury and the latter to an unfortunate car accident), the fitness of another player, Shreyas Iyer (middle order batsman), is also a concern.

Iyer is not leading Kolkata Knight Riders to start with. During the IPL, not only Rohit but all the Indian fans might be concerned about the workload management of the likes of Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur, among others.

More than the batsmen, there is a history of fast bowlers breaking down in a big series or tournaments following the IPL, over the years.

If the early years of IPL (2009 T20 World Cup in England, 2010 World Cup in West Indies and 2011 Test series in England) witnessed the burnout factor at full display in team India’s horrendous outing, the pattern is almost the same in the last few years as well.

India has not done well in a Test series in England or solitary matches which have been followed by the IPL (like the WTC final in 2021 or Edgbaston Test in 2022). Due to the pandemic in 2021, when the last leg of the IPL matches was rescheduled and held in September in Dubai, it again hurt the prospects of the Indian team, which crashed out from the first round in theT20 World Cup.

Fans and experts, once again, were unanimous that the fatigue of the IPL had once again played a major role in spoiling India’s party.

Why Indian players can’t take a decision

While the likes of Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, who are key bowlers in red ball cricket for Australia, can take the bold and remarkable decision of skipping IPL to prioritise nation’s interest, it is not as simple as that for Indian players. After all, IPL is BCCI’s (Board of Control for Cricket in India) baby and the latter would never want the big players to miss the most lucrative T20 league, so that the brand value of the tournament doesn’t get compromised.

Of course, BCCI’s standard reply over the years has been that if players feel overburdened, they can always skip the IPL. This again is practically easier said than done. Besides, Cummins and Starc, Australia’s best spinner Nathon Lyon too is not part of the IPL and pace bowler Josh Hazlewood is unlikely to take part for the Royal Challengers Bangalore partly because of his injury and possibly due to Cricket Australia’s endeavour to keep him fresh for the WTC final as well.

So, as things stand now, Team India is likely to face a rejuvenated bowling attack of the Australians when they meet them In England. While it may occur, there are no takers for the wisdom of the old saying once bitten, twice shy in Indian cricket when it comes to prioritising IPL duty versus a strong desire to win a global trophy.