Time to tackle ailing T20 leagues
Health is supposedly wealth but it is cricket’s enormous wealth that threatens its health. Cricket has wellness issues but the good news is everyone realises this can’t be pushed aside or postponed. The health scare works at different levels, and currently focus is on the cure, recovery and rehab of Test cricket.
Experts diagnosed Tests to be critically ill and prescribed urgent surgical intervention. Alarmed, BCCI wasted no time to conduct a successful operation in Kolkata. The game lasted barely two days, but a packed Eden Gardens raised hope that Tests would soon be in the pink of health.
Going forward, Test cricket’s condition is such it needs constant care and regular injections of new ideas. To stay relevant in a world where time is scarce, the five-day game must convert red to pink, day to night.
Some experts want a second opinion. They recommend a line of treatment where short-term marketing measures are supported by long-term lifestyle changes. That means better wickets, quality of play and competitive cricket.
While Tests grapple old-age concerns, its young cousin is battling major health scares. With various T20 leagues across the world compromised by betting and fixing scandals, the shorter format is badly infected. Corruption has entered its bloodstream, damaged its operating system. More worrying is that this illness is deep rooted. At one level, it is an international illness. In Bangladesh, Shakib is banned for two years for not reporting approaches, as is Sanath Jayasuriya in Sri Lanka. In South Africa, Ghulam Bodi is in jail for five years. Foreign leagues popping up are under a cloud.
At another level, recent developments confirm Indian leagues too have caught the bug. State leagues are under the scanner with first-class cricketers and coaches arrested.
The scary part is not the odd player playing the bad shot but dodgy owners playing dirty.
Police investigations are on and it appears state leagues require regular dialysis. If this wasn’t bad enough, Ambati Rayudu (former India player, Hyderabad Ranji captain) resigned after levelling charges of widespread corruption in team selection. Cricket’s health concerns also directly affect players. Administrators are mindful of workload management and injury prevention but planning for environment conditions is something new which they will have to address.
Recently, there was uproar when players were exposed to Delhi’s toxic smog during Diwali. Players training in masks or taking ill during a match is a bad advert for cricket. This would have been brushed aside earlier, but now there is agreement that scheduling should factor in harsh weather conditions.
Meanwhile, ICC has taken steps to protect players through the concussion substitution law. Matters of players’ mental health are more complicated. Till Maxwell chose to take a break, this was considered an individual’s personal health problem. When Trescothick/Trott and Maninder Singh spoke about this, people thought this was just one of those things that happen.
Now, with others too coming out, there is an understanding that emotional wellness of players needs attention. Virat Kohli admitted he went through a phase when he couldn’t cope and it felt like ‘the end of the world’.
That a conversation has started about players’ health issues, whether physical or mental, is a healthy sign. Players are judged every time they take the field but the pressure on them, of performance and of expectations, is often missed. To remain healthy, they must self correct and also seek outside expert advice.
COMPARED TO PHYSICAL HARM, MATTERS OF PLAYERS’ MENTAL HEALTH ARE MORE COMPLICATED. TILL GLENN MAXWELL CHOSE TO TAKE A BREAK, THIS WAS CONSIDERED AN INDIVIDUAL’S PERSONAL PROBLEM