New Delhi: I played the 'ODI' World Cup for six weeks and won it. Five days later, I had no choice but to play eight-week-long 'T20' league called IPL. I thought I would ask for some rest after that, but was told everybody can't be rested. So six days later, I was in West Indies for a 'Test' tour. Who am I and where my forte lies, I was left to ask myself.
Read it as a soliloquy of one of those few elite Indian cricketers who is grilled in all the formats, inadvertently conveying the bedlam in BCCI that has cost him his identity.
BCCI's callous scheduling turned India's dream into a nightmare.
Did that cricketer cost India their No. 1 Test status? No, rather he should be commended for holding onto it for close to two years despite a board that doesn't care about him. And when India could have silenced all questioning their No. 1 status, BCCI's callous scheduling turned India's dream into a nightmare.
Unlike England, India were seriously undercooked for Test cricket in the English summer, so much so that there was a six-month gap since most seniors last played a Test. In between was a deluge of limited-over cricket, where while the World Cup brought euphoria, the IPL handed-over an injury list to the BCCI.
But the BCCI likes sandwiches with nice stuffing. And likewise, they prefer international Indian cricket calendar without a breather. Knowingly or unknowingly, that has been the team's undoing - time and again.
Perhaps, the players – like Dhoni – will still not complain in fear of upsetting their IPL bosses, who range from Bollywood to within the BCCI. Still, the same set of players may have performed well with better run-up planned for a series as important as the England tour.
Ask Australia or England if they can go into an Ashes Test with just one practice game under their belt. The answer will be a big 'NO'. But when Anil Kumble asked the BCCI for three warm-up games on India's tour of Australia in 2007-08, he was shown a downward thumb. And when the one given also got almost washed out, an under-prepared India lost the first Test by 337 runs.
Even worse happened on the 2010-11 South African tour, where the Test series got underway without any practice game. What happened in the first Test there? An innings defeat!
And that India came back strongly on each of those tours shows that more than acclimatisation, match practice matters for this team, whatever the conditions. But BCCI still failed to recognise that and couldn't talk ECB into more than one first-class game ahead of the opening Test at Lord's.
A dominant figure in the ICC, BCCI could have got its way in shaping the England tour itinerary to their team's liking but instead, the honchos were worried about DRS.
As expected, things don't change in the next four months. Champions League T20, ODIs against England at home and hosting West Indies for a Test and ODI tour is coming up next for a battered and bruised Team India – in that order. The bad news for their muscles is that all this happens within touching distance of the Australian tour, which starts in December.
Dhoni scared of BCCI?
Another big question is will Dhoni – who doesn't mind taking selectors on – raise his voice against the mindless scheduling by the BCCI. Or will he employ diplomacy at a time when his own performance is under the scanner? Check the second box for a safe bet after reading what Dhoni said after the Edgbaston loss.
"As for planning, it's beyond the players' control. It's the BCCI who decides; we try to do our best and use our resources to the maximum," Dhoni replied reporters.
BCCI refuse to accept blame
As far as BCCI response is concerend, it did arrive - on expected lines. BCCI secretary and President-elect N Srinivasan, who also owns the Dhoni-captained IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, refuted allegations of money-mindedness levied on the BCCI, who seems more interested in IPL than the international calendar.
"When we reached the top of the Test rankings and stayed there for close to two years, nobody raised these questions. Now, just after one bad series, criticisms are flying thick and fast," he told a leading daily.
The way forward for Team India
The only good thing about this debacle is that India can't go any lower; it's only way up from this hole they find themselves in. As they say, a good team doesn't become bad overnight. And this team is good!
But for that to happen, the BCCI has to wake up to their scheduling howlers. Instead of flexing muscles over DRS and ICC appointments, they should care about the players who've made them the board they are now.
