The India blues will be put in the cold storage for at least the next three months, with Season 16 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) set to grab centre stage over the next two. In the year of the 50-over World Cup, India’s next outings in that format aren’t until July in the Caribbean. The immediate interest will revolve around how the players go for their respective franchises in the IPL.

Club versus country debate

Club versus country has been a raging footballing debate for a long while. Franchise versus country is a more recent cricketing discussion hotbed, though only the truly naïve will believe that an Indian franchise must work with only the Indian national team’s interests in mind, no matter that they have invested so much in the quest for ultimate glory.