What are the odds of another Sachin from India?

Nil. A heads up: this article may not be of the anticipated quality due to the angry frame of mind attached to the issue.

For years, three, four generations have seen and been almost overawed by the way Sachin Tendulkar has batted. But will the four generations after us and Tendulkar have another deity to look up to? There are so many players, so many talents coming up for us to enjoy watching in the next few decades. But, the point is there are no exceptional talents coming up. The point is there are no exceptional talents coming up. There are a lot of them available but not very many are moving upwards. Remember, we are speaking specifically of India.

There are patterns with which every Indian is expected to lead his life. This pattern varies from region to region and family to family. Unfortunately, probably 1% of these patterns involve sports. But, it is only partially accountable to the households.

In India, in the modern day, a person goes to his cricket camp faithfully, plays, and whether he is talented or not and more often than not, eventually gets out of cricket and back to the horror called studies. He gets back, because in the world of sports, returns are not guaranteed. The other side may argue that a player will eventually be able to recognize if he’s good enough to go on with the sport.

The problem with India is insecurity. An under 15, under 17 cricketer, with even the slightest doubt in his mind about his future will dump cricket for studies. This is because in India, the domestic circuit is in a deplorable condition. A person who plays the Ranji Trophy will never be completely sure about his financial situation. If you don’t even make it to the Ranji level and rely on cricket for your income, bankruptcy awaits you.

You will agree that to be a competent cricketer, a considerable amount of intelligence is required. This intelligence is what provokes these cricketers to quit at a young age.

Here’s where the education system comes in. If you have not been through the Indian education system, it is but my duty to inform you that a surprisingly small number of people actually enjoy sitting in the classrooms. An insider: such people are usually shunned by the student society.

Now this education system ruins the lives of so many sportsmen who may actually have the potential to be as good as Dravid. But, for no fault of theirs, they will just merge with the average crowd around him and get lost in this ridiculous system. And slowly, will grow his paunch as is customary.

I go to a very good school. I believe it is one of the better schools in the city I live in. It is almost a family. Everyone knows everyone else and ….. I spend 30 hours in school in an average week – which is about 1800 minutes. Out of which, I, a 15 year old, am authorised to play 40 minutes!!! That’s about 2.2% of my time in school playing.

When I began this article I thought I would go quite a bit further than as far I have gone now, but nothing more needs to be said.-BS