Did the BCCI prioritise the IPL over the World Cup?

Hyderabad: It is ironic ever since the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) started in 2008, India have never won the T20 World Cup. The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team clinched the T20 World Cup in 2007 in South Africa but after that the Indian side returned empty-handed. On the other hand, Pakistan, who don’t have a […]

Hyderabad: It is ironic ever since the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) started in 2008, India have never won the T20 World Cup. The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team clinched the T20 World Cup in 2007 in South Africa but after that the Indian side returned empty-handed.

On the other hand, Pakistan, who don’t have a T20 league like IPL or the players getting opportunity to play in this Indian tournament, have a far better record in this shortest format ICC event. The Babar Azam-led Pakistan even broke their World Cup jinx by beating India in Dubai this time. This is a contrasting tale of fortunes. Pakistan are on a high and the jaded India team will return home disappointed with yet another failure in the World Cup.

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There could be many factors to India’s dismal show. But this year, the decision to conduct the remaining matches of IPL before the World Cup could perhaps be the biggest mistake.

The BCCI forced the World Cup selected players to participate in the IPL before straightaway playing the premier event. The players had already been in bio-bubble for the last few months. Coming straight from England, they had to play in the IPL and then the World Cup.

Jasprit Bumrah clearly stated that the cricketers are suffering from bubble fatigue. “Absolutely, you need a break,” Bumrah said in the post-match press conference when asked about the short gap between the second leg of the IPL and the T20 World Cup.

“But this is the reality of the times we are living in, it’s difficult, it’s a pandemic and we are staying in bubbles. We try to adapt but bubble fatigue and mental fatigue also creeps in. You are doing the same thing again and again. It is the way it is, and you can’t control a lot of things over here,” he said.

Even bowling coach Bharat Arun too agreed that a short break between IPL and the World Cup would have helped the players. “They have been in a bubble for six months and that takes a huge toll. The players haven’t gone home and I think they have had a short break after the last IPL got suspended (in May),” he said.

The former Indian captain Kapil Dev has hit out at the BCCI for giving priority to IPL over World Cup. “When players prioritise IPL over playing for the country, what can we say? Players should take pride in playing for their nation. I don’t know their financial condition so can’t say much,” he said.

The 62-year-old further said holding the IPL event very close to the T20 World Cup was disastrous. The BCCI had to reschedule the IPL because of the Covid-19 pandemic. “…I feel that first in line should be the country’s team and then franchises. I’m not saying do not play cricket there (IPL), but the responsibility is now on the BCCI to plan its cricket better. To not repeat mistakes we committed in this tournament is the biggest learning for us,” he pointed out.

Kapil Dev was frank enough and hopefully the BCCI have learnt their lessons. The next T20 World Cup is in Australia and it is to be seen how the BCCI prioritises their programme. But surely a tight schedule would not bring any desired results in a big event like the World Cup.

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