Before we proceed, a quick Bollywood dash. The likes of Ayushmann Khurrana and Rajkumar Rao have extended the lexicon of Hindi cinema to a breaking point with their 'woke' content. They have come to define something new that Indian film audiences never really understood 10 years ago. It is the renaissance of a content-driven era that smacked right at the centre of Bollywood’s age-old theatrics. But what about the legacy actors like your Shah Rukh Khan, your Bhaijaan Salman Khan or the formulaic display in the Rohit Shetty cop universe? It ought to pose a question.

It might be harsh on many players, who depend on the domestic season for their bread and butter. On an average, a player now gets approximately Rs 2.5 lakh per match in the Ranji Trophy along with the Gross Revenue Share from the BCCI’s Central Revenue pool obtained by the broadcast rights, even without taking Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy earnings into account. 

All of these are fundamental questions and should be welcomed at all cost, for this is a debate that has the potential to trigger a bigger base? But all of that comes with a caveat. After six months into the pandemic, we are not over yet and organising a cricket match without a bio-secure bubble might just be the last thing you want in the current climate. Creating a bio-secure bubble for 38 domestic teams - I haven’t even taken the women’s and age-group cricket to account - is literally an impossible proposition. Health protocols can’t be compromised for the sake of organising a cricket tournament that at best is a feeder system. This pandemic has shaken our core and it has given the BCCI a time to correct the wrongs and put the best foot forward. 

Former Indian team trainer Ramji Srinivasan suggested that the long-term effects of this virus on athletes is still largely unknown, health professionals and trainers warn about rushing back into playing competitively. Indian Express mentioned in their report that the infectious-disease experts and health professionals do not have enough data to make conclusions about how COVID-19 might affect an athlete’s hearts and lungs. Chances of players being infected are more in a normal scenario than it is within a bubble and they need to be mindful of the same. 

In that regard, why can’t BCCI process the amount they owe to the domestic players for almost half a decade now? As SportsCafe reported exclusively the players haven’t received the GRS in the last four years and for a regular player, this amount corresponds to around 50 Lakhs. If the BCCI can proceed the said amount first, it can take care of the current expenses and in the process, the board can formulate the right strategy to ensure the players are dished out a right treatment.

That is one of the best and most viable solutions in my opinion because hey I hate to repeat, but India has put themselves in such a situation that we are not sure if we are already exposed to the virus. Social distancing has gone for a toss, cases are rising at a faster rate than Virat Kohli’s centuries and we don’t know what is the right solution yet. In such a time we only are sentimental as much but losing sight of the practicality would mean a bigger loss than expected.