On Country vs Franchise Debate After Nicholas Pooran's Retirement, Ex-India Star's Stunning 'Biscuit Packet' Logic
In recent days, two of modern-day cricket's best wicket-keeper batters - Nicholas Pooran and Heinrich Klaasen - have announced their retirement from all forms of international cricket. The fact that both are relatively young - Pooran is 29 and Klaasen is 33 - have raised questions regarding their early retirements from national duties. The debate between international cricket and franchise cricket has been stirred once again, with many players earning significantly higher playing for T20 franchises around the world. Former India cricketer and reputed pundit Aakash Chopra gave his reasoning on the matter.
"The cricketers' point of view is very simple - 'I have a very limited time span, my shelf life is very short.' When you buy a biscuit or a milk packet, 'best before' is written on it. The 'best before' comes with every player," Chopra said, speaking on his YouTube channel.
"Then you realize that if you don't achieve your full potential in a particular time frame, when the sun sets on your career, you will be alone with your family. So he is not okay with where he is right now, and if he becomes a T20 freelancer for the next four or five years and earns a lot of money by playing across the world, he can almost guarantee his happy retirement," Chopra explained.
Chopra stated that the decision to retire from international cricket is easier for players who play for cricket boards that do not give a big contract.
"Assuming you are a South African cricketer like Heinrich Klaasen or a West Indian cricketer like Nicholas Pooran, your earning potential to play for the country is so limited that it is not going to suffice. It's easier to pursue if you are with a rich board, but if you are with some other board that doesn't have money, it's easier to say no," Chopra said.
From the board's point of view, some of them have their hands tied. They don't have money. So where will they give from? In some cases, like the West Indies, there used to be a tussle. There is a different ego battle going on there. So one gets upset very quickly. If you are not accommodating, then I am going," Chopra said.
Pooran and Klaasen will continue to play franchise cricket, being important parts of their respective teams across leagues like the Indian Premier League (IPL), SA20, ILT20 and Caribbean Premier League (CPL). Both earn in excess of Rs 20 crores (USD 2.3 million) from just their IPL contracts.
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