Are sudden IPL pullouts signs of an emergency?

The past few days haven’t been kind to Chennai Super Kings. Two players (from 13 in all, including support staff and management) tested positive for Covid with barely a fortnight for the IPL to start, raising doubts whether the franchise would be ready to play in the opening tie on September as scheduled.

While the two players, Deepak Chahar and Rituraj Gaekwad, have tested negative since, CSK suffered other serious setbacks. Within days of each other, senior pros Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh have pulled out of the tournament for ‘personal reasons’.

This leaves the threetimes champions beleaguered, however CSK is not the only team to feel distress. Mumbai Indians veteran Lasith Malinga, the highest wicket-taker in IPL history, and still a force to reckon with despite his advancing years, has also pulled out for personal reasons.

Malinga’s decision has not invited as much media scrutiny as Raina’s and

Harbhajan’s because he is not an Indian star. But overall, the timing of these pull-outs as well as lack of clarity in why they have done so has left diehard IPL followers flummoxed.

The timing of the pullouts by these players, as well as lack of clarity in why they have done so has fueled speculation and set tongues wagging about whether there is more than meets the eye about what the real reason for their belated withdrawal.

There is nothing that can, or should, prevent a player to withdraw from an event or tournament. As free agents, players have the absolute right to ply their skills — or not — within contractual limits.

‘Personal reasons’ is ordinarily a valid enough ground for a player’s absence, but extremely wide in its ambit to find complete acceptance in these trying times where the usual yardsticks don’t apply and it is incumbent on players, teams, federations to be upfront on such matters to prevent misapprehensions.

The issue with Raina, Harbhajan and Malinga is not of the kind that Leo Messi, who wants to leave Barcelona Football Club after spending a lifetime with them because of a tussle with the team’s management. But it could be argued Messi also wants to leave Barca for ‘personal reasons’,

That Messi has since backtracked because of a complex contract that could cost him dear is another story altogether. Seen in a wider perspective, how much better that the real issue in the Messi story was in the public domain. This prevented misplaced conjecture and needless conspiracy theories.

Transparency is all the more important in these extraordinary times, when the fear of Covid is all pervasive. It redounds to the credit of Rafael Nadal that he took a decision early and candidly on not participating in this year’s US

Open because of na virus factor.

In the case of the three cricketers under discussion, their sudden pull-out from the IPL bespoke of an emergency. But in the present circumstances, it is imperative to know what this urgency was about? Is it family related, Covidlinked or some other?

I don’t know much about Malinga’s recent situation, but Raina has had a terror assault on his family which may have brought him back. (Though why he went to UAE then remains unanswered). Harbhajan’s mother has been ailing for a while, and he may have stretched the waiting period to take a final call.

These are strong reasons for not playing a tournament. And if so, why can’t these be publicly disclosed? In Raina’s case, the the coroflip-flop statements by the owner of CSK N. Srinivasan and the player himself added more grist to the rumour mill.

Within the IPL fraternity itself, lack of clarity leads to rise in conjecture and paranoia. I’ve received class from people associated with different franchises, wanting to know what’s happening.

The issue goes beyond salacious gossip about dissonance within teams. Given the present environment, these people may be more worried about Covid infection, and whether they are being told the truth about the scale of problem, and how safe it is to be playing the tournament.

That’s a dangerous route, which is why full disclosure in such matters is imperative.

● There is nothing that can, or should, prevent a player to withdraw from an event or tournament. As free agents, players have the absolute right to ply their skills - or not - within contractual limits.