Boards closing the gaps

PCB bans Shoaib, so IPL bans Shoaib. This is an ominous tilt to the player-board balance.

Indian Premier League, which shows scant regard for niceties like citizenship, is a truly commercial enterprise. Yet, according to I S Bindra, it will keep out Shoaib Akhtar until the five-year ban on him by the Pakistan Cricket Board is lifted.

The ban, for allegedly defaming PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf, and IPL's adherence to it will no doubt spark prolonged debates. Already, Imran and Sarfraz, who have no great love lost for the board, have slammed the ban. Inzamam and Moin Khan, who have no great love lost for Shoaib, have supported it.

"Shoaib has been banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board, and even though they have cleared him to play for IPL, we felt that international discipline needs to be respected," Bindra, a member of the IPL governing council, told Cricinfo.

"If he can't play for Pakistan, how can we play him? There will be no discipline left in the game, if we play him. It will set an unwanted precedent. We [IPL] want to be part of the international system, not operate outside it. If somebody is banned on disciplinary grounds, that is a serious offense, and we felt it would be very odd if he was to play in IPL."

Shoaib has been the enfant terrible of Pakistan cricket and one of the easiest to ban whenever the board made up its mind. Umpire's Post will leave the Oracles to debate the merit of the ban. Its concern right now is something else.

Individually, the cricket boards have for some time been scoring over the players. There was a time when some players (think Imran) became strong enough to call the shots in their countries and dictate to the board.

However, the boards have realised that a player, no matter how good or how popular, will sooner or later find himself on a sticky wicket.

So, Steve Waugh, Sourav Ganguly and Brian Lara, three of the most influential players of the modern era, were reined in and the first and third have already been nudged out.

Sachin survives, but in part because he has never run afoul of the establishment, even as the administrators have changed. His most vitriolic public tirade has been a soft-spoken unhappiness with Dravid's decision to declare in Multan four years ago.

When it comes to curbing player influence, BCCI has been an old pro, often playing one influential player against another; Wadekar was used to snub Pataudi while Kapil and Gavaskar offset each other.

IPL showing solidarity with PCB is evidence that cricket establishments across countries are closing ranks. This is already ominous for players, but will surely become even more so if BCCI were to begin disseminating its dexterity.