‘Rebel league’ hits cricket where it hurts most

The latest signings by the Indian Cricket League have inflicted more damage on the cricket world than it might seem at first glance. Bangladesh, a team that is forever fighting to justify its Test status and which also seems to have lost the art of shocking top teams in One Day Internationals on those occasional good days, suddenly finds a player pool that has shrunk considerably.

Habibul Bashar, Aftab Ahmed and Dhiman Ghosh represent the spectrum of Bangladesh’s resources - the old hand, the fulcrum and the future. By losing them in a lot of over a dozen, BCB has been shown in poor light because the players have reportedly spoken of being treated badly by officials as a prime reason for their moving out.

Bashar has been an accomplished player, their most consistent batsman in many seasons, and a successful captain by Bangladesh standards. He might have been out of the side in recent months but was definitely an option for Tests.

Aftab Ahmed has been an integral part of recent squads, while Dhiman Ghosh was one of their best from a new crop, who had just edged out Mushfiqur Rahim as the main wicketkeeper.

Alok Kapali, who slammed a century against India in the Asia Cup not very long ago, Shahriar Nafees, Tapash Baisya and Manjural Islam are all players with considerable experience and their going out of the system is an irreparable loss because so much has been invested in them. That they could not be consistent enough over the years was a disappointment, but what will be of concern now is that such players will not be around to pass on their experience.

As for the ICL, it has hurt the ICC where it hurts most. World cricket is struggling with dilution of the game and things won’t get any better on that front the way things have been going.

One is also hearing of a Sri Lankan XI in the ICL, which though could be more a benefit for the Zee backed competitions than a loss for the former world champions. The ICL may very soon be able to put up teams representing countries and the threat of the parallel league looks so much more a possibility if it is not already so.

Pakistan and New Zealand have already suffered because of the ICL and with the health of teams like Zimbabwe and even the West Indies anywhere near the ideal, cricket faces a challenge that is fast taking dangerous proportions.

In fact, the ICL’s latest signings have not been as much a gain for the rebel league as a loss for Bangladesh, and therein lays a perspective on the standard of international cricket.