Get on with the game

Awise judge once advised Indian cricket to “get on with the game”. This was when there was a big tussle between players and the Establishment. The same advice is valid three decades after the Supreme Court had to step in to restore the right to play cricket to the biggest stars. The Sydney Test will begin two days from now, which means the shindig over the breach of protocols by Indian cricketers on their tour of Australia can be kept aside for the moment while the game goes on.

Truth to tell, Indian players have been in breach of protocols that various Australian states have laid down in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, the perils of which are far from being behind us and billions of people across the world are making huge sacrifices in order to keep themselves and others safe in the face of an infectious disease. India’s cricketers owe it as their responsibility to set the best example. Also, the BCCI members must stop being offended at every turn when the culpability of an Indian player is exposed by the media.

The third Test match may be in progress soon enough, but the inquiry into the breach of protocols must go on with all seriousness and the offending players, including captain Virat Kohli, must be censured if indeed they have stepped beyond the boundaries of the “bio bubble”. Queensland has even stricter regulations about quarantine for visitors and the Indian team must toughen up and go through with it. They may have to sacrifice little freedoms in order to complete what has been a good six months of cricket in the IPL in Dubai and in Australia.

The BCCI, for all its privileges and resources, may not have learnt yet to be professional in its approach to administering the game. This is no time to flex its financial muscle and threaten to pull out of contracted obligations, such as the fourth Test at the ‘Gabba. The game, as both Justice Slade of the UK and Justice Venkataramiah of India had said, must go on.