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Written by Jatin Thakkar
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Friday, 24 April 2009 15:38 |
Kamran Khan's sudden jump from playing at local grounds to the international arena to face world class batsmen is a sign of cricket penetrating wider and deeper with its reach into the population, as far as harnessing talent is concerned. And this culture is one more step along the football route, following the entire concept of domestic premier leagues and the Champions League which was supposed to have happened last year.
One of football's famous talent-scouting stories is that of the teenage legend, Lionel Messi. Messi was 9 years old when the local clubs spotted his talent. But at the age of 13, he developed a physical ailment that stunted his growth and put all his footballing prospects under threat. Having noticed his inherent talent, Barcelona FC stepped in to bear the enormous expenses involved in treating him and shifted his base to Spain. This willingness - or indeed, necessity, given the competition - to invest heavily in prospective talent allowed Messi to enter the topmost level of football and contribute tremendously to the game by going on to become one of its finest exponents, and take it the next level.
Kamran's story, of course, is not nearly there, but it seems to shed some light on the direction things are going in. The IPL and such other leagues, with their extreme-reward-and-punishment systems, will help promote this 'culture' of scouting talent from nooks and corner of the world. Not only can it bring hidden talent out in the light but also lets cricketers in smaller cricketing countries get into more successful sides, and make a living off the game. It would be a great day indeed when the IPL franchaisees start signing on talented cricketers from Zimbabwe, Ireland and other fringe nations who don't get the chance to shine because of a weak team.
This alone seems reason enough to relook the four-foreign-players-per-team rule.
The tradition of picking raw, bustling talent off the streets did flash here and there a few times in cricket's history. A good many Pakistani bowlers through its history were handpicked from the grounds and gallis in their backyard without any exposure to serious cricket. And what he did both for Pakistan and cricket cannot be debated.
It is curious irony then that the cut-throat capitalistic nature of this tournament and its corporate culture that is inherently repulsive to many who love a pure game can actually lead to the unearthing of natural, pure talent that can add so much to the game, and go towards the fairly noble cause of helping people with such talent make a living playing cricket.
(Click here to know more about Jatin)
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Last Updated on Friday, 24 April 2009 16:59 |
