Kirsten Bells the Cat

16/6/09

By Gulu Ezekiel

The BCCI is acting true to form in attacking coach Gary Kirsten for his frank and unbiased comments on the IPL affecting the Indian team at the T-20 World Cup.
Kirsten is in the best position to know the mental and physical condition of his players and is neither on the payrolls of the IPL nor does he have an axe to grind. His salary after all comes from the BCCI.
If is pretty courageous, some would say foolhardy, of Kirsten therefore to come out with this statement which has blown the lid off the BCCI’s money obsession.
The way the IPL mouthpieces have reacted is predictable as their bread and better depends on the successful running of this domestic corporate-based cricket circus.
The IPL has thus become both a cash cow and a sacred cow as well and any hint of criticism by unbiased observes is immediately pounced upon by officials, ex-players and sadly, many in the media too who are covertly or overtly involved with this money-minting machine.
Hopefully there will be some internal soul searching among the more level-headed officials who would have the common sense to understand that the schedule of the IPL is far too long and taxing for the players.
For some unknown reason, the ICC has scheduled the next World Cup just nine months from now and a similar situation is bound to crop up again.
Kirsten though must be pretty naïve if he thinks that any Indian cricketer will actually ponder the idea of missing the IPL in order to be fit for national duty. Besides, the corporate honchos who pull the strings for their franchises will not tolerate this notion. For them, their company’s image is more important than the nation’s and so after over 130 years of country v. country cricket, we have finally seen a tectonic shift in the loyalties of our players.
It is a sad day but with the BCCI’s priority being simply to line their already stuffed pockets, this scenario was just waiting to happen.