The scene created by two senior Indian cricketers who confronted each other at an IPL match indicates that large sums paid to these players may not always be a good thing. Few would have thought multi-millionaire sportsmen could go at each other at a televised match between two clubs.
Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli are both highly regarded and have a great future in international cricket, even if the former is slightly out of form and was thus dropped from the Test team. They have played together so much for state (Delhi) and country that they should have known better on how to behave in public as iconic sportsmen.
The IPL is a strange phenomenon, and it is apparent many IPL teams tend to pressure players more if only because they are forking out so much money that they may never recover despite all the hyperbole on brand valuations. The desire to win shouldn’t be scoffed at, but it can’t be displayed in public like this. Sportsmen often do things in the heat of the moment they may regret later. Some of it festers: we saw in Sreesanth stoking an old controversy (“Slapgate” in IPL 2008). But regardless of what’s at stake — national pride or club loyalty — players must remember it’s only a game and that their huge fan base looks up to them to set an example.