Are Indian cricketers getting sandwiched while juggling matches and formats within days? Yes, it is a part of their schedule, but they are human, not machines! In all these humdrums, the obvious question lies: is T20 cricket saturating the Indian calendar? Franchise cricket indeed play a big role, with almost all cricketing nations starting a league of their own. These are lucrative, and many players, one such of a kind is Nicholas Pooran, are taking retirements from international cricket to play league cricket. New Zealand Cricket itself started Casual Contract to free cricketers but bound them to be available for important matches.

 

But in India, the scene is compulsory. Even a base price of INR 50 lakhs is lucrative for a budding cricketer. Indian Premier League has been a major source of BCCI's income—it doesn't matter if theyr still using hair dryers to dry their wet outfield. They are powerful- but with a T20 World Cup, a Champions Trophy, Asia Cups, and an World Cup won in the age of dinosaurs. But for a money-making factory, is it technically possible for them to treat players as human?

 

India itself treats players as Gods and not humans. Chasing Travis Head in a grocery store and then tagging him rude for not giving a selfie by overstepping his peae-is the actual norm! However, there is a similarity between the country and and country's board- neither look at the players as human. And the contrast? Public look at them as heroes, who never fail, never get tired. BCCI looks at them as peasants, (probably) under the umbrella term "professional."

 

Read also: 3 Team Likely to Target Prithvi Shaw in IPL 2026 Mini-Auction

 

Lets look at the stats

 

BCCI normally prepares a schedule in terms of the time gap between two tournaments. For example, in a T20 tournament, the schedule is normally 2 years, and so it is for Tests. For an ODI World Cup, it's 4 years. Fun fact: India will play 27 ODIS since November 2023 to the 2027 ODI World Cup, 37 T20I matches from July 2024 to February 2026, and 18 tests since 2025-2027. 

 

Recently, India's frustrating performance in white-ball cricket, even at home, has drawn attention—often questioning India's intent to stick to the pitch and grind for five days, if not the technique. But for players who are training how to make room for shots in every ball, they will look fro quick solutions—something similar to why a 2-minute maggi tastes better than a slow-cooked bowl of rice.

 

In between, India will play two IPLs in two years. In 2025, India played 74 matches in the sweat-dripping heat. England summer is something, and India's summer is something unbearable—40 degrees Centigrade, players counting hours for a sip of water, wet gloves, and polyester jerseys sticking to the body. 

 

The generation of grandmothers and grandfathers often used to say how cricket was enjoyable during the winters. But now, the sport has been a potato—available every season.

 

India's urge to humble players

 

Earlier, after Gambhir came into the circuit, BCCI introduced the 10-point diktat, where a player can't take leave unless there is some medical concern. And unfortunately, fatigue has no prescription. Remember the interview of West Indian legendary bowler Michael Holding with sports presenter Gaurav Kapoor? Kapoor asked a very simple question,

 

“How do we get more lethal fast bowlers?”

Holding replied,

 

“Play less cricket."

 

What does India do? No doubt Jasprit Bumrah is the prime pacer for India in Test cricket, at least. India was touring Australia for a five-match T20 Series. While South Africa had already reached Kolkata for preparation, Bumrah, on the other hand, was playing a T20 match in Australia. Keeping aside all excuses of SA being the best Test side in India, what did BCCI do? 

 

Hardik Pandya, who missed the last leg of the 2025 Asia Cup, will be playing the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for a few matches before coming straight to join the Indian team playing the white ball series against SA.

 

Another example. After coming back from the Anderson Tendulkar Trophy, which was a 5-match strenous Test series, BCCI deliberately asked the South Zone to add Mohammed Siraj in their Dileep Trophy squad, to keep him running.

 

Now the question is, everyone know, but none can complain. If you complain, you will either be snubbed from the central contract. Or some aged critic will will come and excuse, "hamare zamane mein to workload nehi hote the."

 

The “who’s at fault?” question — players, boards or market forces?

 

Cricket’s overcrowded calendar has sparked a debate about who is really responsible for the growing imbalance in formats. Some point at players, arguing that many now lean towards lucrative leagues, skipping bilateral games or managing workloads in ways that weren’t seen a decade ago.

 

Others believe the boards played a bigger role by expanding their own schedules, adding back-to-back series and squeezing in commitments to meet broadcast demands. And then there are the market forces—the rise of T20 leagues, the fan shift towards shorter formats, and the financial pull that neither players nor boards can fully ignore.

 

Each group is reacting to pressures of its own: players to career longevity, boards to revenue, and the market to entertainment trends. The tension between these three forces has shaped modern cricket, and the question of who truly started the cycle remains open.