In their most recent review meeting on Sunday, January 1, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took the daring decision to manage the workload of a pool of 20 Indian players ahead of the 50-over World Cup. The board, on the other hand, may be at a crossroads with IPL franchisees, since they are unlikely to rest their main players in an extended schedule this year.
The BCCI issued an official statement on Sunday, indicating that the National Cricket Academy (NCA) would collaborate with IPL franchises to monitor and manage Indian players’ workloads ahead of the WTC final (assuming India qualifies) and the 50-over World Cup. This regulation was implemented after numerous Indian players were injured in the run-up to the T20 World Cup last year.
It should be noted that the ECB and CA have been following this strategy for years and have agreements with players who compete in global domestic tournaments like as the IPL. However, according to the most recent statement from an IPL official, the BCCI will have to make some changes to their policy since they are not qualified to regulate the workload of players owing to their contracts with IPL clubs.
“The BCCI cannot instruct the teams to rest a player for any IPL game. They can, of course, monitor workload and request statistics, but they cannot set a limit and say a given player can only play X number of matches or bowl X amount of overs,” a franchise official said.
An lengthy IPL season means that team management will have to keep track of the players’ health levels in an international schedule that will see India host the ODI World Cup later this year. It would be intriguing to watch whether the BCCI gets its way with the clubs over player workload management, or if the cash-rich league takes precedent over international obligations.
