Let's recreate the magic for Indian kids: Dravid
Former Indian captain Rahul Dravid called upon the BCCI to publish a minimum standards guideline for junior cricket during his lecture at the Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi Memorial Lecture at New Delhi. Dravid also termed age fudging and illegal bowling action at the junior level as dangerous and toxic.
After mentoring the India U-19 cricket team to a tri-series victory against Bangladesh and Afghanistan on Sunday, former Indian captain Rahul Dravid opened up about the problems in junior cricket in the fourth edition of the annual lecture. Dravid started his speech talking about the lack of expertise of coaches at the private cricket academies that have cropped up all over the country.
“The age group that gives academies its biggest revenues is the youngest – the beginners, age five upwards. Yet they are paid the least attention. Usually, it is the junior-most coach who works with the hardest to handle youngest kids,” he said.
Dravid then urged the BCCI to formulate a ‘Junior Cricket Policy’ so that there is a framework for cricket development in India.
“Our coaches, like our people, are diverse; some may not look at 50-page documents with any affection. It is where Indian cricket should seek to draft and adopt a universally-applied Junior Cricket Policy. It doesn’t have to be a mind numbing 50 page document; it can be a well-explained simple framework,” Dravid said.
The ‘Wall’ of Indian cricket then described an incident in an Under-14 tournament, where two or three double hundreds were being scored.
“Recently, the KSCA conducted an Under-14 league tournament, made up of 50-over games. In one game the score was some 325 for 1, there were 2-3 double hundreds and a few more big hundreds in that tournament. I want to ask AB de Villiers if he scored double hundreds in one-day games at 12-13? Because at that age, I would just about get to a 100 in 50 overs”
Dravid also went into the pressure put on 15 and 16 year-olds by parents to decide on their future.
“I must remind anguished parents and children that that it is too early to decide at the age of 14, that a child is not going to be good in the game. As a 12-13 year-old, you are only just beginning to develop physically. Cricket is a game of skill and the more opportunities you get to hone that skill, the better you can be. If you’re forced out early, when only just growing, who knows how good you could have become?”
The Indian great stressed on the need for taking studies and cricket together and also batted for counselling for U-16 cricketers.
“I think every U-16 state cricketer should go through a proper counselling session organised by his state association, with educators who understand the situation that the young cricketer is in.”
Dravid also went into the menaces of age fudging and chucking in Indian cricket at the junior level.
“So, at 19, when an eager, hard-working boy could have played the junior World Cup, he is left trying to correct his action instead. Did this collection of short-term goals achieved through short-cuts hurt the child because as adults we turned a blind eye?”
“I think of this overage business as dangerous and even toxic and to me gives rise to a question: If a child sees his parents and coaches cheating and creating a fake birth certificate, will he not be encouraged to become a cheat? He is being taught to lie by his own elders.”
Dravid concluded his lecture by stressing again the need for a junior cricket policy in India. He also congratulated BCCI for its efforts and called for more initiatives to attract young children to cricket.
“Today’s children have many, many other options. They will grow up to be the thought leaders and opinion makers and fund-managers. It is why Indian cricket must reintroduce its children to the game and its magic all over again. They are a very, very serious audience.”
(With inputs from BCCI.tv)
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