Debut Test : Hard Earned Cricket Cap

Shardul Thakur made debut for India today and became 294^th Test player to be capped for the nation, and unfortunately limped back to pavilion just after bowling 10 deliveries in his first outing on the pitch. When one looks back at year 1932, we realise it has been 86 years since India made its foray as an independent cricket playing nation and if we average out 294 cricketers on an yearly basis, roughly 3 cricketers get an opportunity to make it to national team every year. However, the reality is bleak when we count number of players having played more than 10 test matches and only 117 amongst those 294 have made it to the list. Only 30 test cricketers were fortunate to reach a milestone of 50 test matches.

All Indian cricketers have only one route to make it to top 15 players to be selected to represent the country and that is through Ranji Trophy (IPL though more of qualifies 20-20 or ODI players) and considering the fact that this domestic first-class cricket championship which is played in India consists of 37 teams, with all 29 states in India and two of the seven union territories having at least one representation, the competition is extremely tough.

Not all cricketers are born with golden spoon or privileged to have surroundings that make them pick up cricket bat or the red cherry. Many of them come from poor background and the only passion that makes them dream big is love for cricket courtesy their idols and probably due to the fact that cricket is amongst few games which does not require financial support at amateur level. Even sponge ball and any wooden plank can represent cricket bat at young age.

Due to some magician’s eyes and their hunger to teach the game, some of these boys get picked up by the coaches ( many don’t even formally qualify for the role of coach) and are introduced formally to the game of cricket. There begins the fight with self, expectations, future , compromising studies and coming across failures or partial success. Not everyone can cope with the pressures and lead a failed story to move away from the game.

Perseverance, patience, luck, age factor and such few parameters may make these boys play at domestic level and then the long wait begins in hope to pursue a national dream. Consistency, zonal policies, performing at every given opportunity and to be seen by national selectors and getting a national call is a path full of thorns which every cricketer ( for that matter, any sport which is played as team) has to go through. The competition is enough to make anyone burnt out in this entire process.

Those who pass this ‘Agnispariksha’ finally get a cap to represent the country and then the entire 1.30 billion of Indians have huge hopes pinned on the new debutant expecting a new Gavaskar, Kapil or Tendulkar to be born to take the Indian juggernaut ahead.

Isn’t it  tough for any youngster ( ideally most of them are in their 20s ) to bear this pressure and perform. Only blessed ones amongst them can perform from the word GO. Most of them would need time to settle, get accepted and start performing.

We as cricket fans, also need to look into the other side story of making it big in any profession. When the episodes of fixing, under performance or loosing crucial matches are discussed, we tend to crucify the cricketer and many times even hold their families responsible for their failures.

It’s time we start looking at the sport and performance of the players from this gruesome exercise perspective, else any youngster representing the country is bound to face heartbreaks and failures at the start of the career never to recover again.

Never forget the domestic giants like Amol Mujumdar, Rajinder Goel, Padmakar Shivalkar and such endless stalwarts who could never don the national duty and that dream blue cap.

Hope to see Shardul Thakur recovering from the early setback and make a place for himself in the long run. And may we need to keep remembering those 177 test players who played less than 10 test matches and those umpteen ones who could never play any.

P.S. The blog is written looking at the competition at highest level when it comes to represent the country for any individual and the pressures he or she has to go through to sustain at the top level. It does not comment on any individual, rules or authorities of the sport.

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-       Jayawant