Where there is cricket, there is controversy. Even as the Indian Premier League (IPL) goes on with cricketers taking the, 'aerial route' every two minutes and fielders making 'Kamaal' catches, there came the news that Slinga Malinga, Sri Lanka's bowler is retiring from Test cricket
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Where there is cricket, there is controversy. Even as the Indian Premier League (IPL) goes on with cricketers taking the, 'aerial route' every two minutes and fielders making 'Kamaal' catches, there came the news that Slinga Malinga, Sri Lanka's bowler is retiring from Test cricket.
Earlier, cricketers retired from the game. Today, cricketers retire from the "long form" of the game, the, "short form" of the game, but, "continue to play for the Indian Premier League (IPL)" or some other permutation.
It all goes to show that even retirement like the world itself, has become hugely complex. Like the game itself, leaving it has become more complicated. There are some cricketers who announce their "retirement" and barely six months later, take back their decisions and come out of retirement for various reasons (of course, money is never cited as one).
Laughable and far-fetched though this may sound, odd things have been happening with great rapidity in cricket and I think stranger things may happen in the future. Just imagine a scene when a player will send the media into an absolute tizzy by announcing he is retiring not from any 'form' of the game but from fielding itself.
Henceforth, I will be available for batting and bowling, not for fielding ufffd one can imagine him say even as television mike wires snake all around him.
Then, of course would come a player who says he is retiring from bowling. Available to bat or field, not to bowl. A bowler might pipe up with the version that he is simply retiring from batting. All reasons for these bits-and-pieces retirement would be to enable the player to prolong his career.
Then, of course, would follow umpires who only officiate in the short-term version, long-term version or IPL.
Coaches who only coach one of the three versions. Teams would have a batting coach, bowling coach, fielding coach, wicket keeping coach, running between the wickets coach, coach who teaches you how to rub the ball as to put a shine on it and even coaches who teach players how to bring drinks on to the field. Specialist dance teachers for IPL cheerleaders are also not out of the question.
Cricket has become a little-by-little super, super specialist game broken up into several pieces. Even though the prospect of retiring from batting or bowling seems ridiculous and outrageous, it might happen. Remember once, not too many years ago even the thought of cricketers being auctioned had evoked the response ufffd mad or what? Today, I think a Sotheby's or a Christie's might hold a cricketers' auction one day.u00a0
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