CHENNAI: If not anything else, the injury to Virat Kohli is a vindication of the Lodha panel recommendation that there has to be a 15-day gap between the IPL and the national team’s next international assignment. The India skipper is going to miss his much talked-about stint in the English County Championship with Surrey because of this. The injury rules out getting acclimatised before a crucial Test series, as he had planned.
It is unwise to think Kohli does not take care of his body, to meet the demands of the gruelling schedule Indian cricketers have. He is possibly the hardest worker of the current lot, who dedicates extra hours to physical conditioning after practice. In fielding drills the players take part in, he is the one seen putting in the extra yards. This explains why he had not broken down till now, despite playing and travelling almost non-stop for years.
There is a tendency to blame the support staff for players failing to maintain expected levels of fitness. They are professionals and specialists, hired to keep cricketers running in spite of the packed calendar. But here comes the question of accepting the reality, rather than holding individuals responsible. India’s programme is such that breakdowns are inevitable. Considering the volume of cricket and lack of basic fitness in formative years, it’s impossible to guarantee that everybody would be fit all the time. It’s Kohli now and can be anybody else after this.
The IPL has a history of causing breakdowns. That the matches are just 40 overs each doesn’t make it less taxing. Pressure to perform in several franchises is higher than in international cricket, there is an insane amount of travel at unearthly hours for six weeks, plus playing and training day in and day out. This leaves players with little recovery time and the inevitable fallout is injuries. There are many examples and Virender Sehwag going to England in 2011 with a niggle aggravated during the IPL is a prominent one.
This is why the Lodha diktat saying there has to be a gap of 15 days between IPL and cricket that follows becomes relevant. Had this not been obeyed, like several other Lodha recommendations, Kohli or anyone else could have missed India’s next international outing. Because schedules since last year are drawn keeping in mind this mandatory break, there is no international cricket immediately after the IPL. In that sense, it’s a blessing in disguise that Kohli will miss the preparation stage instead of the full series.
That it took a retired Supreme Court judge to think of this shows the BCCI in poor light. It was for board officials to realise that the schedule they were subjecting players to comes with the unwritten clause of risking injuries. They saw it, but did little to change things because they were blinded by the money the team generates. Indian cricket fans should be thankful to the Lodha Commission that because of their intervention, players are getting a chance to recover before big assignments.