The British Isles are soaking in the beautiful summer. The cricket World Cup venues are basking in all their splendour. Matches are still one-sided and no 500-run breach has yet been made. But hosts England definitely seem to be the team to bet on. The Asian teams, so far, are yet to get used to the pace and bounce and of course, conditions. Minnows they may be but Afghanistan, by far, look more prepared than other experienced Asian sides. Sri Lanka and Pakistan looked mediocre and played like novices.
That narrative for Asian countries might change as soon as India step on to the ground on June 5. One of the favourites is yet to play a match. Interestingly, by the time they face South Africa in their first match, most teams would have played at least two matches (Bangladesh and New Zealand play their second match on June 5). Australia and the West Indies are the two teams playing their second match after India. For South Africa, the India encounter would be their third match. There’s absolutely no doubt India have one of the best teams. Yet starting a game late to give them extra rest seems a little surprising.
Take for instance, South Africa. Suppose they lose two matches and play India. Psychologically, they would be on the backfoot. They wouldn’t have opened their points tally even after two matches whereas India will be playing their first match. It might seem frivolous but by the time India play, they would have known how the teams are playing and the conditions. The latter especially seems to have taken everyone else by surprise as what was predicted to be a high-scoring tournament has seen teams struggling to reach 200.
Try as I might, I couldn’t justify why India are playing six days after the World Cup began. If reports are to be believed, India were supposed to play South Africa on June 2. On the insistence of the all-powerful Indian cricket board, the schedule was reportedly tweaked. The reason cited by a ‘BCCI source’ to a national news agency was that Lodha Committee recommendations mandated India to play only after a 15-day recovery period.
The International Cricket Council was apparently requested to push India’s opener from June 2 to June 5. For the record, the IPL final was on May 12. And some countries withdrew their players from IPL well on time. It might be true that BCCI needed to follow Lodha guidelines. But why did the ICC listen to BCCI? They are not governed by Lodha guidelines. This also raises eyebrows on the very sanctity of the fixtures. Such a thing would have been unimaginable in a FIFA World Cup. Or in any other popular sport.