IPL over Ranji logical for players, but situation bad

Get the picture: When a batsman repeatedly advances down the pitch, bowling a bouncer.

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The short-stuff response is both a message and a warning from the angry bowler.

It is unusual for BCCI to issue a warning but the tough tone of the 'behave or else' message suggests it means business. The public dressing down, and the threat of 'serious implications', confirms there is a problem with domestic cricket, and there is a way to sort out the problem.

The issue is this: With little to gain, established players don't want to play red-ball cricket and skip Ranji Trophy, the national championship. Some seniors turn up for the odd game to gain match practice in the beginning of the season but when IPL approaches, they report unfit. Niggles invented, muscles are pulled, hamstrings act up and lower backs become stiff.

This 'we are unfit' playbook fools nobody. Players missing Ranji is an annual fixture - the drama repeats itself every year and everyone knows the truth. The comedy of sudden injuries usually runs through December to February but by early March all injured are fit, in prime health, ready for IPL's commercial circus. Ravi Shastri, in his front foot style, summed it up when he described IPL as the best physio in the world.