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Ganguly downplays fatigue fears over IPL-World Cup double
NEW DELHI, March 19, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Sourav Ganguly offered advice Tuesday
for cricketers worried the short turnaround between the Indian Premier League
and the World Cup could leave them fatigued — just enjoy it while you can.
The gruelling Twenty20 tournament starts Saturday and runs flat-out for
nearly six weeks, leaving barely any breathing room before the World Cup gets
underway on May 30.
Coaches and captains are preparing for star players to be recalled from
the IPL by their national cricket boards for a rest in the days before the
game’s biggest spectacle gets underway in England and Wales.
But Ganguly, one of India’s most successful former skippers and special
adviser to the Delhi Capitals IPL team, said those fretting about timetables
and fatigue should “just play”.
“Yes, it is a lot of cricket, but just play. You don’t play forever,” he
told reporters in Delhi.
“I have always said there is a limited time to play the sport and when you
are getting the opportunity at the international level and the IPL level,
these will not come back.
“So just find a way to get rest, get fresh… make the most of it.”
Teams play 14 matches each in just under six weeks during the IPL, which
has evolved into one of the world’s richest sporting competitions and
attracts foreign stars and coaches.
Australian batting legend Ricky Ponting, who is coaching the Capitals and
has played in the IPL himself, said he was prepared for players to pull out
before the tournament ends in May.
“I can see it from a board’s point of view, that they want to make sure
they can put their best team on the park for the entire World Cup,” Ponting
said in Delhi.
“They are doing whatever they can to look after their players, so I am
sure at some stage as well, some of the Indian fast bowlers might be on some
sort of restrictions at the back end of this tournament.
“But at the end of the day, a lot of that stuff, that’s out of our hands,
we can’t control that. You know, we’ll just continue to pick our best eleven
players, put them on the field and try and win as many games as we can.”
The Delhi franchise has struggled to make a mark in the competition,
finishing at the bottom of the table in the last edition. They have never won
the IPL although they made it to the semis in 2008 and 2009.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1816 hrs