New delhi,May 13 :Over due importance to auctions in IPL matches which made the prized players coverted trophies and over flowing wine and womwn at parties costed india the world cup.
WHAT was feared for long has come true. India’s dismal performance at the T20 World Cup, on the heels of a 45-day long-drawn, energy-sapping Indian Premier League (IPL), was always on the cards; only the most optimistic was not ready to accept the ground reality – or chose to ignore the fatigue factor.
After the 45-day IPL, they went straight to the WC
Whether anyone admits it or not, the IPL, including its late night mandatory parties, has impacted players’ fitness and form the most. Criss-crossing the country for 45 days on a trot during the tournament took a toll on their bodies and minds; after all they all are human beings and prone tiredness and fatigue. Just a few days after the IPL, they left for the West Indies on a long and arduous flight, as captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted.
The IPL finished on April 25 and after five days, they played their first T20 World Cup match on May 1. There was no preparatory camp. They just went home, packed their bags and left for the Caribbean. The Dhoni-led India was the only one of the 12 teams that did not play a single warm-up match before the World Cup due to the paucity of time. But Dhoni, after India crashed out of the World Cup, chose to say that warm-up games were not really required.
Former India captain Nari Contractor agreed with Dhoni. “Preparation was not required. What was required was adaptation and concentration and nothing else. Cricket is a game of adjustment. You should know what you can do and what you can’t. They couldn’t play the short ball,” Contractor told MAIL TODAY.
Bishan Singh Bedi felt that players were attending late night IPL parties because of the bags of money they were taking home. “It’s not the fault of the players; they were made guinea pigs. It’s the fault of administrators and the organisers who have spread the IPL layout.
IPL and the late-night parties reduced players to ‘guinea pigs’
They made it mandatory for players to attend the parties,” . Pictures of players yawning during parties and the bleary-eyed ones coming out of hotels to catch flights the next morning – just a couple of hours after the parties – for another city for another match are still fresh in the minds of millions of fans. It was only a matter of time that less sleep, more travel, practice sessions and matches would reflect somewhere and it showed at the World Cup.
Contractor, however, doesn’t concur with Bedi on the issue of night parties affecting players. “They could have gone to parties, marked their attendance and left early, instead of returning at 3 am. It was not compulsory to dance and jump. After all, the Aus- tralians and English players also played in the IPL but they are performing so well at the World Cup.
Why India flopped
Aussie pacer Dirk Nannes, for instance, has bowled so well (13 wickets in five games),” he pointed out. Dhoni admitted that the accompanying IPL events impacted players’ performance. “We have to respect our bodies and give some time for it to recover because there is more to it than playing matches. Attending parties and travelling takes a toll,” he said. Yuvraj Singh, who doesn’t really hate parties, took his poor IPL form to the West Indies. He managed 255 runs at 21.25 in 14 IPL matches and a mere 74 in five at the World Cup. Harbhajan Singh performed well in the IPL, taking 17 wickets, but he was the only frontline bowler not to take a single wicket in the West Indies.
Overused pacer Zaheer Khan didn’t even play all five World T20 matches of India due to an injury sustained during the World Cup. After finishing the fourth-highest wicket taker in the IPL, the leftarmer managed only two wickets in the Caribbean and each one cost 52.50 runs. Injuries did affect India’s performances.
Virender Sehwag pulled out of the World Cup due to a shoulder injury, thus forcing a new opening pair to be employed. Contractor pointed this out, saying: “Sehwag will always be missed. We didn’t have an effective opening pair,” he stressed. The international and domestic schedules are killing Indian cricketers. And they have little choice in opting out of any series/matches due to fatigue or injury. If they do, there’s always the fear of not being considered ever again for the national selectors. Ask Ajay Ratra or Saba Karim, among others.Why India flopped