With the IPL safely behind us, let us look
at the Club Vs Country debate dispassionately. We will focus on cricket, but learn
generously from sports like football - which have been grappling with this issue for a lot longer.
There are 2 primary questions to answer – 1. If a player has a conflict between a country
game and a club game, what should he/she choose? 2. If
the player has to miss playing in order to rest the body (an increasingly
important aspect of modern professional sports), should he/she choose to rest
country games or club games?
Alas, it is not a easy choice to make
because of a few key reasons – playing for the country is considered patriotic
(equating players to soldiers in some instances) thus making players feel like
they are traitors if they choose club over country. On the other hand, players do make more money
per game playing for a club – and it is hard to choose country over club and
end up the poorer because of the choice.
Let us face it – a professional sportsperson has a shelf life that is
much shorter than in other professions.
He/she has a responsibility to maximize earnings – just like the rest of
us in all other professionals do regularly.
So where does the coin fall on
this one? Here are my thoughts on this subject -
Let us face it – it is all about
choices. Country gives you fame. Club gives you money and longevity. Players need both, obviously. Players should absolutely prioritize country
over club, ONLY for really important tournaments. Like the World Cup or Olympics. As far as lesser tournaments and other tours
are concerned, the players ought to decide for themselves. There is nothing
patriotic about playing for India in an India Vs New Zealand 7 match one-day
series. I will never hold it against a
Gautam Gambhir if he choses to play for KKR and then skip the following Bangladesh
series. The media and fans have to grow up and stop making a fuss about this. Simple as that.
Those are just my thoughts - what do you
think?
Players should be responsible enough and rest their body and should draw up a regime for that. As an example, take a month off after 3 months of playing to regain strength, fitness, work on technicalities and of course to take rest. This should be the guiding light. During playing time, the player should be allowed to choose games but the preference should be for the country. I dont necessarily agree that clubs fetch you more money - maybe for a Tendulkar but a player like Rahul Dravid, the stakes would have been the same. After all, BCCI pays what they commit which is not the case with clubs!! BCCI has insurance, healthcare coverage etc wheras clubs would dump you if you get injured... I like the important series part but country over club, especially for cricketers in India...
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