Gautam,Yuvraj and the loss credibility

While these injections were supposed to act as pain-killers,yet there is no getting away from the fact that these drugs are banned for players and the world doping authority (WADA) may have something to say about it.

While he will surely be paid in full by Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knght Riders,Gambhir may be forced to answer some very uncomfortable questions,questions that will haunt IPL too,since a player artificially boosted his performance and led his team to virtual semi-finals of one of the pre-eminent tournaments in the world a tournament that is already reeling under a number of controversies that may hit its standing and stature.

Other teams may ask for penalties to be imposed on the team as well as the player and perhaps even taking back the points earned by KKR.

While that is still in the future,another player who cannot stop himself from flying into controversies is Yuvraj Singh the hero of the World Cup triumph by India. Named the Player of the Tournament in the World Cup 2011 and playing the IPL 4 till the very end,it now emerges that he has contracted a chest infection that will keep him away from the rigours of the tour to the West indies.

The cost of all of these ‘shenanigans’ may well have to be paid by Team India,since the players being fielded are second-string. The Indian team,which is the No. 1 Test in the world and has its reputation to protect in the ODI version of the game as well as T20,may suffer losses that are humiliating and even cause the team to lose its rankings

Chief selector K Srikkanth,grateful to these players for winning the World Cup is choosing to ignore these anomalies: “ When injury happens,it happens”.

However,once players get away with violations,then it may be impossible to control them ever and they may even set precedents for others in the future.

With a winning percentage of a mere 13% in the Carribean,it is quite certain the team will miss some of its best players who could have erased this particular statistic by leading India to glory. .

And that goes for others too who will be missing in action: Sachin Tendulkar,Zaheer Khan,MS Dhoni,Virender Sehwag… Surely the time to rest was during the IPL and not while the nation’s bugles calls its best cricketers to duty.

And finally,N Srinivasan is an integral part of the BCCI as its powerful Secretary,the body that rules Indian cricket and he is also the owner of Chennai Super Kings,one the most successful IPL teams,giving rise to conflict of interest controversy. More than that,Team India captain MS Dhoni is part of Chennai Super Kings and he will be playing the IPL final to bring more glory to the owner,yet he has opted for rest when the national team takes to the field in the west indies under a captain (Suresh Raina) who is clearly ‘green’ and untried.