Former India pacer Praveen Kumar on Tuesday became the latest cricketer to offer his two cents on the club vs country debate. While he encouraged Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer to keep making money, he also suggested that they should continue to prioritize domestic and international cricket over the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Iyer and Kishan did not show up to play the Ranji Trophy for their respective states in spite of BCCI’s diktat. Iyer failed to make it to Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal matchup with Baroda complaining of a backpain. In Mumbai’s semi-final match with Tamil Nadu, he managed just three runs off eight balls. Iyer and Kishan were also removed from the BCCI central contracts list for 2023–24 last week. Iyer had also had a poor performance for India, scoring just 104 runs in the first two Test matches against England.
“I have been saying this for long. Paisa kamao, kaun mana kar rha hai? Paisa kamane chahiye lekin aise bhi nahi hona chahiye ki aap domestic nahi khel rahe, country ko importance nahi de rahe. (Earn money, who is stopping you? But it shouldn’t be like you are not playing for the country or domestic cricket). This thing is now firmly in the mind of players, “ Praveen Kumar told Times of India.
Praveen continued by emphasizing the need for players to maintain balance. “Mai ek mahine pehle rest kar lunga, fir IPL khel lunga. Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun (Will rest for a month before the IPL and then play. This happens because mentally you are not willing to let go of that money). But this is not fair at all. A player needs to balance things. Money is important, but this (giving franchise cricket the priority) is wrong,” added the 37-year-old.
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