Will the A-team stand up?

The images from Headingley were reassuring; cricketers doing what they did best at, facing off against each other out there in the middle in...

The images from Headingley were reassuring; cricketers doing what they did best at, facing off against each other out there in the middle instead of being caught up in a war not of their own making. Two weeks after it surfaced, there is no clear sign which way the contracts controversy is headed.

All parties to the dispute 8212; players, ICC, BCCI 8212; have been talking in diplomatese. The ICC says the contentious contract holds only for the upcoming tournament in Sri Lanka, but adds that other tournaments will have similar contracts. Then it hints that it will 8216;learn from the experience8217; of running each event. The players have said they want the ICC to budge first; for the next five days, it can be assumed that they will play no further part in this particular game, while tending to the real thing at Headingley.

What is most perplexing is the inability of the BCCI to come up with convincing answers 8212; or any answer at all 8212; to some very basic questions. Most important being, why did the BCCI inform the players at the eleventh hour about the contracts? In the absence of any official explanation, one can only conclude that the objective was to force the players into signing. What makes things even more bizarre is the obvious discomfiture of BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya, a man who needs no second invitation to take up arms against the establishment at Lord8217;s. If indeed the ICC slipped in the clauses of contention after the original contract was signed, why isn8217;t the BCCI screaming blue murder?

All that is, however, history now. What is of more immediate importance is the need for India8217;s A-team of cricketers to make their stand clear. The contract they refuse to sign is good only for this tournament; the millionaire stars will not be signing away their rights for life. Also, the sponsors and agents are on record as saying they have no problems if the big fish play in Colombo. What must be remembered is that, however big Sachin and Saurav are, they are big only because they play international cricket for India. It is a peculiarity of Indian cricket that the big money comes only for playing at the international level; unlike in England or Australia, the domestic game isn8217;t worth the pitch it is played on.

Take the India cap away from Sachin and you take away the source of his crores. It is now time he, and his colleagues, see that cap from another angle. Protect your rights, by all means, but be big enough to also protect the cap you wear.