Cricket: Whose game is it anyway?

India are set to play West Indies in a bilateral series (Getty Images)

The move could signify a perfect farewell to Tendulkar. One game at the home of cricket in India, Eden Gardens, and the other in his hometown, where it all started. And why wouldn’t you want your greatest player to play his last match at home? Sachin Tendulkar is not just a player, but he’s an event for cricket the world over. The amount of eyeballs and reverence this man has received over the past twenty years is on a scale comparable to any messiah the world has witnessed since the advent of religion. It seems only fitting to watch him play his last game here.

While it is fitting, if the series indeed is to oversee the retirement of Tendulkar (as is being whispered throughout the world), it’s rather unfair and even bordering on unethical. Granted Tendulkar is a man deserving of all reverence, but to go out of your way to make special accommodations is misplaced. The joy of watching Sachin Tendulkar is to know that he is human. He has all the qualities we have, yet when he’s off the field he gives us this belief that we can be as great as he is. By granting him special powers and requests, it deadens any such emotion.

Many will say ‘but he deserves’ it’, but I for one am completely against that argument. If he isn’t playing well, you must not hesitate to drop him. Cricket is a team sport and to raise any individual higher than the game is a sin, even if that player happens to be Sir Don Bradman‘s favourite.

The ODI series against Australia later this year is to be the only series in India during this financial year. And what with the markets dipping like a Parle-G into chai on an especially cold Sunday morning (but less gracefully), this series could provide a little injection of funds into the board’s kitty. Seemingly a valid reason, and though my knowledge on all things economics is hilariously weak, one has to wonder – doesn’t revenue received via the IPL alone equate to far more than what any other board manages to recover?

Comments on various blogs and websites suggest that the fans are immensely happy with having this series in lieu of Tendulkar’s retirement. The last few weeks we’ve seen many comments made about the satisfaction of fans, most prominently when the Aussie media and cricketers lashed out at England for their ‘boring’ cricket and questioned whether fans should be refunded their ticket money.

While it is of utmost importance that fans remain happy and continue funding the game (and we’ve seen hat they will enjoy regardless of off-field controversies – read IPL), taking into consideration the players’ needs and requirements is also equally important. In all the hue and cry of adding in a series and fans being ecstatic about it, we know nothing of what the players think. Of course, it’s all very possible that they could be extremely happy with this arrangement.

But let’s say a player does come forward and claim he isn’t happy with the schedule – will the BCCI reprimand him? And who has a bigger say? The players or the board?