Cricket: Scheduled to burn out

The number of top level cricket matches has been a key subject of debate for several years now. In the not-so-distant past, the main grouse was that there was too much of one-day international cricket matches. In the aftermath of India’s success in the World Twenty20, the moan was of excessive T20 cricket — whether IPL, Champions League or World Cup.

Irrespective of the format of the game, the whine from the players is that they are being subjected to a tad too much of playing cricket. The BCCI administrators, who know a thing or two about gathering golden eggs, retort that players who cannot take the heat should take a break. But cricketers, unsurprisingly insecure, are wary of taking any break, lest it becomes permanent! The insensitivities of the administrators notwithstanding, the indisputable fact is that there is an excessive amount of cricket and too much of it can actually be bad.

The worst sufferers are the cricketers. Unlike their counterparts in England, Australia and even South Africa, who have a cricket season with definitive breaks, India’s cricketers end up playing right through the year. This has become more pronounced with the introduction of the IPL which is wedged bang in the middle of the oppressive summer.

An earlier generation of cricketers, who did not have to contend with the T20 format, were unhappy because they had to play 25 to 30 ODIs and five to six Tests every year. Of course, their fitness levels were lower and they also had to compete in domestic cricket tournaments and masala matches. Some also opted to further supplement their income by playing English county and league cricket and hence, had additional reasons to complain.

But their commitments, when compared to the present generation of cricketers, seem to be a walk in the park. Today’s cricketers have simply forgotten what it is to be away from the game. (In the calendar year 2011 — the Indian cricket season of October to March no longer holds good — the current Indian players would have played 12 Tests, 36 ODIs, four International T20s, 17 IPL T20s, Champions League and sundry first class and other tour matches. Along with nets, travel, conditioning camps, etc, their’s is a year-long cricketing activity).

Some of the top cricketers, MS Dhoni, Zaheer Khan and Gautam Gambhir, to name just three, play all formats of the game — Tests, ODIs and T20s. Gambhir has a relatively easier time as he is a batsman. But Dhoni and Zaheer take a lot of load on themselves.

The workload, particularly on fast bowlers like Zaheer, is physically a lot more demanding. The pacemen’s body cannot physically stand being pounded every day. Their spine would give way after a while. But much before that, they would suffer injuries to knee, ankle, calf and hamstring.

Dhoni too would have a tremendous workload as a wicketkeeper. Crouching, getting up, concentrating on every delivery and collecting sharp throws day in and day out could be excruciating, particularly as he would have so little time between series or tournaments to recoup and recover.

Of course, excessive cricket could lead not just to injuries but also burnouts. Burnout is often defined as physical, emotional and mental exhaustion. Importantly, it is also described as the distress resulting from such exhaustion. It leads to reduced motivation and interest in the game. Sometimes, it is so intense that the player is lost to the game forever. And it is this factor that our BCCI must pay attention to.

It may be pertinent here to point out that Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and recently Anil Kumble all have had a playing career extending beyond a dozen years. They have been high performing cricketers during the period and it is possible that they withstood so much of cricket only because they played relatively a lesser amount of T20 cricket. Tendulkar and Kumble had breaks from the game owing to injury but came back successfully after the lay-off. Dravid and Laxman tapered off from playing ODIs and this helped prolong their careers.

But it is extremely unlikely that the younger generation of cricketers would have as long a career as these four. The bowlers and wicketkeeper Dhoni could count themselves very fortunate if their international career stretches over a decade.

The problem is with the Board. A cursory look at the schedule that awaits the players over the next few months (see box) should convince any cricket aficionado that it is impossible for a cricketer to be at his peak over such a long time and without a break to recoup. The Board could still work around it if they could come up with a player rotation policy that would provide for rest, recuperation and rewards. But in the long run, they need to get smart with the scheduling of series or else, we could so easily see a lot of good, young talent burnout. And that would be a real pity.

—Vedam Jaishankar is a widely-travelled
senior journalist and has covered cricket in
all the continents. He is also the author of  Rahul Dravid, a biography