T20 leagues and poor fitness of Pakistani players in international matches

[xricket]

Hello again,

We all know how cricket has evolved since the advent of T20 leagues. There was a time when players used to perform well in domestic cricket, so that they can be part of international matches.

At present, it looks like the tables have turned. Players, these days, perform to play for T20 leagues. This is because these leagues offer them good money. Now, they don't have to worry about their performance in national team, or worry about their availability for tournaments, as long as they play in these leagues.

These leagues are double edge sword. They do display national talent, but at the same time, they offer a short cut way to earn money instead of maturity, as it used to be in old days.

This has affected Pakistan severely. Now, take the case of Amir. He is young, and should be able to handle work load of our national side, but he wants to pick and choose when he should and shouldn't play. It's not like Pakistan schedule is full, or they play through out the year. They are playing like other teams, with breaks every now and then.

I think, that these leagues should be banned and only country cricket/domestic cricket should be allowed, if we want to savor players' performance for future. This will develop technique and develop them for national sides as they will only focus to play for the national side.

 

[Majid Khan]

It’s a very relevant point, don’t be surprised if you see the same pace bowlers who who could barely get to 130kph against SA bowl at their best in the PSL or in the case of one Pakistani national bowler he will be joining an English county for T20 and no doubt he will be charging in over there.. it’s an interesting situation , club v country - I mean would these bowlers want to go flat out for national team and risk injury that could potentially take them out of a lucrative contract from a T20 league.. its a conflict of interest in a way.

 

[xricket]

It’s a very relevant point, don’t be surprised if you see the same pace bowlers who who could barely get to 130kph against SA bowl at their best in the PSL or in the case of one Pakistani national bowler he will be joining an English county for T20 and no doubt he will be charging in over there.. it’s an interesting situation , club v country - I mean would these bowlers want to go flat out for national team and risk injury that could potentially take them out of a lucrative contract from a T20 league.. its a conflict of interest in a way.

When our national players don't become part of our first class/domestic cricket and are busy playing foreign leagues, it also deprives our first class cricket to have the quality or exposure which otherwise would be there. Now, one can argue that such players may not be large in numbers who flock to these leagues, but it does affect the quality of those tournaments, which are a starting point for many potential players.

The players who developed pace and good swing/seam bowling, should naturally have resulted in a good exposure and development of technique in our batsmen, but it's sad that this is not the case. Same goes for spinners. The players with international exposure, should naturally improve quality of first class cricket provided they play with sincerity.

I agree with Mickey, when he said our domestic cricket is too big in size. I would rather have this PSL money invested in upgrading regular first class cricket, which is the ultimate nursery for future of cricket in this country. As money is the biggest motivation, I think PCB should then make it mandatory to be part of such series, so that the techniques & skills can be groomed