(BY MANU VERMA) Fatigue! That is one word you will hear from all the top cricket commentators in the country. During the past few years the Indian cricket juggernaut has been moving at such a scorching pace that it leaves virtually no time for the players to rest and recuperate between matches. Since last year’s World Cup Championship the Indian team has never enjoyed a single full month of rest. The BCCI’s calendar is heavily burdened with a series of high profile matches. The fact of the matter is that India plays more cricket than any other country in the world.

The honchos at the helm of the nation’s cricketing establishment are quite happy with the virtual deluge of cricket. After all, this is a game that has now turned into a huge money making enterprise. The more cricket the team plays, the more money everyone associated with the game makes. It is the sheer greed of the cricketing elite that is behind the plethora of tournaments. No one seems to care that excessive cricket is detrimental to the health of the players, who are often too tired to perform well in the really important matches, such as the World Cup.

Majority of the players are not complaining. Playing for the national team not only enables them to get a heavy pay packet from the BCCI, it also ensures advertisement contracts involving astronomical amounts in terms of money. But M S Dhoni, the current superstar of Indian cricket, has now decided to speakout. He has set the cat amongst the pigeons by opting out of Sri Lanka Test series to be held later this month. According to media reports, he was critical of the scheduling of the recently concluded Asia Cup tournament, and even said that such back-to-back matches were taking a toll on the players.

BCCI was quick to come out with an explanation for Dhoni’s sudden announcement. Their spokesperson tried to brush up the issue by saying that senior players need rest from time to time and there is nothing wrong with it. But what about Dhoni’s complaint that back to back matches were taking a toll on the players? BCCI does not seem to be concerned about how fatigued all its players are. It is possible that the grueling cricket schedule may be responsible for India’s lack of form at the prestigious world cup tournaments. Despite being a cricketing nation, India has won only one World Cup about 24 years ago.


Dhoni is not alone is criticizing the grueling schedule of matches. After the recent debacle in the Kitply Cup Final held at Dhaka, former cricket player Kiran More minced no words in blaming cramped schedules for the lack of form in senior players. “I don’t blame the players or the captain for the defeat as the players looked really tired as they have been playing non-stop cricket for some time now. If the Indian team continues to play like they have been doing (non-stop), there will be many more burnouts and fielding 14 members too will become an uphill task.”

From the looks of it, there does not seem to be much respite for the players in the coming six months either. From 15th July to 30th August, 2008 the Indian team will be touring Sri Lanka to play 3 tests and 5 ODIs. Once the Lankan tour is over the Indian team will take part in Champions Trophy to be played from 8th to 28th September, 2008 in Pakistan. From October 9 to 10th November 2008 Australia will visit India to play 4 test matches. From November to December 23, the English team will compete with India in seven ODIs and two Tests.

It is clear from the above schedule that BCCI considers its players to be like robots that can be worked endlessly without any need of rest. But the fact is that players are not robots. Any player participating in so many matches week after week runs the risk of becoming fatigued and injury prone. BCCI could come up with a rotation policy that could ensure that the same groups of players are not playing all the matches. But do we have such a large group of international quality players? The IPL tournaments did manage to bring some talented youngsters into the limelight, but can these youngsters help India win another world cup? It seems unlikely.

Moreover, many of the players might not be supportive of the rotation policy. Competition amongst cricket players is very tough. And no player can be sure that after availing a rest break from some matches his place will remain secure in the team. If the substitute player performs well, then it may become difficult for the original player to make a comeback into the team. Haunted by this fear, the players try to participate in every game. They try to hide the fact that they are jaded and tired. Sometimes they even hide their minor injuries in order to keep playing.

But excessive cricket is something that is truly symptomatic of India. In our towns and cities, wherever you look, you will find someone playing cricket. In every dusty street, there is always a bunch of eager youngsters playing the game with wooden bats and branches for stumps. Cricket is in our blood in much the same way as football is in the blood of Brazilians and ice hockey is in the blood of Canadians. It is time we tried to discover some other sports in which we can participate, because our national obsession with cricket is doing the game more harm than good.