New Delhi: The IPL is over but its side-effects will prevail for some time now. The tournament was for 44 days, had 56 league games and for the two finalists two more matches.
The IPL caravan took players all around eight cities and they hardly got time to rest and re-energise—no wonder then that this strain has already take its toll. The hectic schedule of the cash-rich IPL has left players exhausted, not to mention some of them injured, which will affect their national duties.
South African skipper Graeme Smith experienced mixed emotions even in the moment of triumph. Smith, the bulwark of Rajasthan Royals' batting, amassed 441 runs but was forced to sit out of the final due to a hamstring injury. The injury may well make him sit out of South Africa's Test series against England.
"It looks like minimum four weeks. So I have to push to get better for the Lord's Test for my country, which starts on July 10. So I have a bit of hard work ahead of me," said Smith on his injury.
And it's not only the South Africa skipper who’s feeling the impact of a rigorous IPL. Even India’s M S Dhoni admits he is feeling the heat. In fact, the Indian ODI and T20 skipper kept away from keeping wickets in the later stages of the tournament due to a finger injury and passed on his gloves to Parthiv Patel.
"It is a very demanding format. We hardly get any time to rest. If you see we have played two Twenty20 games in 24 hours. It is a part and parcel of the game but it does drain you out," said Dhoni after his team played two crucial games in two days.
India, who have a booked cricketing calendar this season, has already two of their key members in the injured list due to the strainous IPL. Both Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan were missing from the Indian squad for the Tri-series in Bangladesh and the Asia Cup in Pakistan.
Mumbai Indians skipper Tendulkar may have sustained an injury in Australia. But his IPL campaign, which started midway through Mumbai's journey in the tournament, has ensured that the 'Little Master' will miss both the tournaments. Bangalore's Zaheer Khan also aggravated his ankle injury in the IPL amd hence forcing him out of the Tri-series.
Australian opener Matthew Hayden, who was part of the Chennai team, is missing his country's ongoing Test series against the West Indies due to a tendon injury in his right foot. Wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara suffered from a rib injury for a brief period of time during the course of the tournament and also missed a few games for Mohali.
With no separate window yet for the IPL and the entire year packed with a lot of cricket, the players will have to carefully manage their fitness better to be able to stay fit throughout the year.
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