Praveen Kumar threw his two cents into the ongoing discussion of Indian players focusing more on T20 cricket. He said players were focusing more on money than serving the nation.
"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? You should earn money, but it shouldn't be in a way that you are not playing domestic cricket or not giving importance to the country.),” the former Indian pacer told The Times of India.
"This thing is now firmly in the mind of players. ‘Mai ek mahine pehle rest kar lunga, fir IPL khel lunga. Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chhorun’ (I will take a rest one month, then play in the IPL. It’s all about the mindset. They think: ‘How can I let go of so much money!),” he added while apparently referring to the start of IPL 2024, starting March 22.
“But this is not fair at all. A player needs to balance things. Money is important, but this is wrong," he added.
Kumar's comments came amid various cricket legends chiming in. Kapil Dev supported the BCCI's tough love for Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan. Both of them had their central contracts terminated after ignoring BCCI’s instruction to play the Ranji Trophy.
Ravi Shastri believes in Iyer and Kishan's resilience. He believes they can come back stronger. Sunil Gavaskar, while sympathising about Iyer, questioned Ishan’s absence from domestic cricket.
Irfan Pathan, on the other hand, wondered what was going on with Hardik Pandya, who had not played domestic cricket at all but still managed to retain his contract.
