Stopping county adventures of Indian players makes no sense

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But that's Sehwag. And this is the BCCI, whose behaviour increasingly resembles that of the playground bully. Resting Sehwag is not an issue. But why revoke the NOCs granted to Piyush Chawla, Yusuf Pathan and VVS Laxman? More... Stopping county adventures of Indian players makes no sense The BCCI resembles a playground bully after it prevented four internationals from gaining experience in England Dileep Premachandran Friday 2 April 2010 Sunil Gavaskar was in his prime when he spent a season at Somerset three decades ago. A year after his epic 221 at The Oval in what was almost the greatest run chase ever, he didn't enjoy anything like the same success, though he was to say later that he was a better player for the experience. Sachin Tendulkar was 19 when he became Yorkshire's first overseas professional. And though he didn't shatter any of the batting records set by the likes of Hutton and Boycott, he was a popular figure on the county circuit and a great draw for games involving the white rose. Nearly a decade later, Rahul Dravid went to Kent and enjoyed a prolific season. Working with John Wright, who would start coaching the Indian team just months later, Dravid set the platform for the most successful phase of his career. All three of India's greatest batsmen were merely following in the footsteps of the pioneers. Bishan Singh Bedi was a fixture in Northamptonshire's maroon cap for years, while Farokh Engineer took his madcap style of batsmanship and eccentric wicket-keeping to Lancashire. In the years that followed, others too would find success in the shires. Ravi Shastri enjoyed his season at Glamorgan, Mohammad Azharuddin charmed Derbyshire fans in the mid-90s, and Kapil Dev took Bedi's route to Northants. Had Virender Sehwag gone to Northampton this summer to play in the Twenty20 Cup, he would have been continuing a long tradition. Instead, he will presumably be asked to play in a tri-nation tournament in Zimbabwe (involving the hosts and Sri Lanka) and the Asia Cup as part of India's preparation for the 2011 World Cup. Given how important Sehwag is to hopes of emulating the success of 1983, it's hard to ascribe sinister motives to the Indian board revoking the No Objection Certificate that had allowed him to sign with Northants. After a full IPL season with the Delhi Daredevils and the World Twenty20, a spell of rest would be in order. But that's Sehwag. And this is the BCCI, whose behaviour increasingly resembles that of the playground bully. Resting Sehwag is not an issue. But why revoke the NOCs granted to Piyush Chawla, Yusuf Pathan and VVS Laxman? Chawla was a fortunate addition to India's Twenty20 squad for the Caribbean. He hasn't been part of India's Test or one-day international plans for a couple of years and is no more than a fringe player at best. Denying him an opportunity to play on a variety of surfaces in England is foolish in the extreme. As Dravid and many others have said, the county circuit is a good finishing school for developing talent. If Chawla spends the Zimbabwe triangular and the Asia Cup rotting on the bench, or not even in the squad, there'll be a lot to answer for. Pathan's case is similar. For all his big hitting in the IPL, he has yet to find his niche at international level. Given his travails against the short ball, you can't say if he ever will. A spell in England on pitches where the ball can do a bit would only have been beneficial. The most perverse case is that of Laxman. He hasn't been part of India's limited-overs plans for years, and it's doubtful whether he will get an IPL contract next season. To deny him a stint with Lancashire is nothing short of restraint of trade. In a recent interview, Dravid spoke of how difficult it had been to mentally adjust to not playing all the time after he was jettisoned from the one-day squad. For Laxman, who has played only Tests for years, any match practice is valuable. With (yet another) series in Sri Lanka scheduled for July-August, denying him a few hits in the early part of summer makes no sort of sense at all. If, as some suspect, the revoking of the NOCs has something to do with the IPL viewing the Twenty20 Cup as competition, one can only laugh. That's as illogical as a multimillion-pound amusement park feeling threatened by the local summer fete. The England and Wales Cricket Board had the chance to put in place the game's premier domestic Twenty20 competition. But while they dilly-dallied, first the Indian Cricket League and then the IPL stepped in, and the opportunity was lost. The decision to try to jazz up the competition with imports such as Sehwag and Pathan is just a belated knee-jerk response to being left trailing by the IPL and even Australia's Big Bash. The IPL itself is at its halfway stage, with the mid-table logjam a perfect vindication of the salary cap. Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians are setting the pace, while Kings XI Punjab are well adrift at the bottom. Each of the six other teams nurse semi-final ambitions, though. With Paul Collingwood displacing AB de Villiers from the line-up, the Daredevils have stopped the rot and climbed to second place, while Kevin Pietersen's luckless streak with the Royal Challengers continued with defeat in Chennai. After looking hopelessly out of depth in the first three games, the Rajasthan Royals won four of the next five, with Michael Lumb providing a couple of significant innings. The Deccan Chargers have gone in the opposite direction, though they can surge into the top four if they win their game in hand by a big margin. The semi-final slots could well be decided by the impact that the Anzac players have. The Knight Riders welcome back Brendon McCullum while the Royal Challengers will be strengthened by the addition of Ross Taylor, fresh off an 81-ball Test century against Australia. As for Chennai, powder-puff in the pace department, "Deadly" Doug Bollinger can't arrive soon enough. With most schoolkids now enjoying the summer break as the mercury soars, the noise inside the grounds will only intensify as the tournament edges towards its conclusion.

[Sachinism]

Thank you Dileep. Its a shame when the boards best interests are not the players and to help improve their game. It looks like BCCI is giving a F U to ECB for shifting around their domestic season to accommodate the IPL

[putrevus]

Thank you Dileep. Its a shame when the boards best interests are not the players and to help improve their game. It looks like BCCI is giving a F U to ECB for shifting around their domestic season to accommodate the IPL

Are Piyush and Pathan part of their t-20 competition only or full season if it is for full season then it is bad move, if it is just for t-20 then it is not a worthwhile .

[Sachinism]

They're not gonna be playing for India, so might as well allow them to gain experience, add a new dimension to their cricket and have another opportunity to prove their worth to a side. Instead they're gonna be made to sit at home or do more endorsements

[putrevus]

They're not gonna be playing for India, so might as well allow them to gain experience, add a new dimension to their cricket and have another opportunity to prove their worth to a side. Instead they're gonna be made to sit at home or do more endorsements

how is playing t-20 in county cricket going to help pathan or Chawla , they are not their overseas players for full season or half a season like Zaheer Khan who got valuable experience playing four day games as well. let Piyush Chawla show he can take wickets in domestic cricket first taking wickets of players, county experience adds zero value for spinners.

[Serani]

Chawla was supposed to be the overseas player for the whole season. And Pathan isnt a test prospect anyway so it doesnt really matter.

[saneindian]

I hope guys like Uthappa and Irfan join some county team and play in this league.

[thevortex]

Silly, short term, vindictive thinking from the Board. But then that is nothing new.

[Serani]

Young batters will learn a lot from county, so many young batters have an FC average over 50 by playing on flat tracks against friendly bowling, county would see which are the best prospects if they can maintain a similar average.

[putrevus]

Young batters will learn a lot from county' date=' so many young batters have an FC average over 50 by playing on flat tracks against friendly bowling, county would see which are the best prospects if they can maintain a similar average.[/quote'] No county is calling our young batsman to play county cricket, they are calling only these Big boppers to sell tickets for T-20 matches.They play enough t-20 cricket here.

[Serani]

Even if they were they would still not be allowed to play. Im sure if the BCCI would recommend some young players and the counties would snap them up.

[Gunner_Mania]

how is playing t-20 in county cricket going to help pathan or Chawla , they are not their overseas players for full season or half a season like Zaheer Khan who got valuable experience playing four day games as well. let Piyush Chawla show he can take wickets in domestic cricket first taking wickets of players, county experience adds zero value for spinners.

What about VVS? He is hardly playing lots of cricket. The BCCI is just playing petty politics. Piyush Chawla was supposed to be the overseas player for Surrey this season. I don't know why people thisnk Indian cricketers will be come only by plying their trade on Indian pattas and won't develop any skills by playing abroad. County experience adds zero experience? So how do you think Graeme Swann learnt his trade and has now reached World No 2? Even if the BCCI don't want any of their players representing the counties, why couldn't they make up their minds and refuse NOC to all players for whom counties requestd NOC?

[putrevus]

What about VVS? He is hardly playing lots of cricket. The BCCI is just playing petty politics. Piyush Chawla was supposed to be the overseas player for Surrey this season. I don't know why people thisnk Indian cricketers will be come only by plying their trade on Indian pattas and won't develop any skills by playing abroad. County experience adds zero experience? So how do you think Graeme Swann learnt his trade and has now reached World No 2? Even if the BCCI don't want any of their players representing the counties, why couldn't they make up their minds and refuse NOC to all players for whom counties requestd NOC?

Chawla and murali karthik will not be affected, they still can play but I think Lancashire invites laxman , he will get NOC from BCCI.He still is not their overseas player, Sangakara is their overseas player.No Indian player is invited to be an overseas player yet. If county experience was so great why is monty not in the team.If counties were playing quality cricket england would not have depended on overseas players to make them competitive. For Counties it is just marketing ploy for their T-20s.

[Serani]

All you need to know is that the greatest team of all time all played county cricket early in their careers, thats the Wi team of the late 70's and 80's btw.

[achilles]

Dileep, I'm sure its not difficult to comprehend that BCCI doesn't care a crap about the ECB and there is nothing that can be done about it coz ECB has a lot of ego issues with us. So they're bound to get some stick.

[Gunner_Mania]

Dileep' date=' I'm sure its not difficult to comprehend that BCCI doesn't care a crap about the ECB and there is nothing that can be done about it coz ECB has a lot of ego issues with us. So they're bound to get some stick.[/quote'] ECB getting stick?? It is the Indian players that are getting screwed here. Somebody like Laxman would have had some match practice whatever little it might have been rather then doing nets or twiddling thumbs. Even if YP only would have played some T20, he could have earned some money, aside from the fact that he would have had exposure to playing in other conditions than his own backyard.

[achilles]

Yes. Our players are getting ignored. They will miss out on a great opportunity to learn more about the game in England. But well, you can't get everything you want, can you? In this ego battle, players from both sides are getting hurt now. First it was the English players refusing to sign central contracts offered by ECB, now our players can't go to England. Sad :((