Country before contract

When our cricketers sit in their hotel rooms and decide whether or not to play in the ICC Champions8217; Trophy in Sri Lanka, they would do...

When our cricketers sit in their hotel rooms and decide whether or not to play in the ICC Champions8217; Trophy in Sri Lanka, they would do well to think of events a fortnight ago and a few miles to the west. That8217;s when the Indian women8217;s hockey team, waving flags and singing the National Anthem, showed us what it means to play for the country. We had almost forgotten what it was like. Our sporting consciousness is dominated by cricketers who wear the national colours more often. Too often, perhaps, for them to remember that it is the game 8212; and playing it for the country 8212; that has made them what they are today. All of Saurav Ganguly8217;s shirt-stripping, all 29 of Sachin Tendulkar8217;s centuries, every moment of Rahul Dravid8217;s stonewalling will count for nothing if they put contract before country.

But having said that, there is no denying that the cricketers are right to feel upset. There is a strong case to be made against the men in suits who, dollar signs in their eyes, framed what can only be described as a ridiculous set of rules. It is not yet clear who 8212; ICC or BCCI 8212; committed the original sin of shifting the goalposts. To further complicate matters, past and present officials of the BCCI are now busy pointing fingers at each other. One thing is clear, though: no one kept the players informed of the rules.

Legalities apart, the stipulation that a professional cricketer does not have the freedom to maximise his selling potential 8212; a freedom he otherwise enjoys 8212; during the game8217;s premier tournaments simply does not wash in the age of globalisation. Neither does the ICC8217;s rationale, the need to protect against ambush marketing, especially when it doesn8217;t apply in other sports. No other major sporting event has a similar bar on ads featuring its participants; at most, such rules extend only to the kit and clothing. During the football world cup, almost every match telecast here 8212; and across the globe 8212; was preceded, and punctuated, by the Pepsi ad featuring David Beckham, among others. This, despite the fact that Coke was an official world cup co-sponsor. As cricket itself moves towards becoming a global sport, and not one restricted to ex-colonies, it will depend largely on the pulling power of its major stars. Bowling underarm at them in the last over of the match isn8217;t the best advertisement for the game or its administrators. In trying to hit a sixer, the ICC is in danger of being out hitwicket.