Career in cricket - a possibility
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: February 06, 2012 -

Cricket is one game which is most popular in the country, with fans followings in millions.

General public support for the Indian team borders on the fanatical and they also keep tract of their favourite stars career graph with almost a religious fervour.

But in contrast to the rest of the country, in this part where football holds sway as the most popular game among the youth, cricket has always been at the fringe with few taking up the game seriously.

There are of course many reasons for this.

First among this could be the unfamiliarity of the game itself, with hardly any exposure to the game being actually played, initially.

Of course, those growing up in the last two decades or so, are at least familiar with the how the game of cricket is played as also with all the formats including its latest avatar, the T20, thanks to the almost non-stop telecast of most of the international and national matches in the host of sports channels which have sprouted up in during this time.

But being familiar with the game by merely watching it has never helped someone become truly proficient in playing it.

You need to actually go down the pitch, bowl the ball and smack the ball with the cricket bat.

For that you need a whole lot of things, as for instances, the pitches where the game is actually played.

Manipur never had any real cricket pitches for a long time until the advent of the Luwangshangbam Cricket stadium, which now boasts of three pitches.

The cricketing gears itself does not come cheap making it beyond the reach of every other young boy desirous of pursuing it seriously.

Like any other game, the game of cricket at the competitive level cannot be played with mere god gifted raw talent.

Proper honing of the natural talent through systematic practice under an expert coach is needed, both of which is as good as non-existent in Manipur at present.

All these factors have prohibited cricket players from emerging in the state.

Surely with the natural ability for sports in general, there is no reason why Manipuri should also not shine in cricket like in other sports.

But for that, we need to make available all that is lacking, in terms of pitches, cricket gears, a system of coaching with competent coaches.

There also should be a mechanism to unearth talent among the really young.

In all this, the Manipur Cricket Association (MCA) should play a proactive role and make serious efforts to produce a state team, within a time limit, which can take part in Ranji trophy matches.

Manipur cricket team winning the BCCI U-22 Associate and Affiliate Cricket Tournament 2011-12, a commendable achievement, should be able to provide the impetus towards such a goal.

While this particular team deserves praises, rewards and encouragement for better showings in years to come, the MCA need to concentrate in discovering very young talents and nurture them over a period of 10 to 15 years to have a realistic chance of competing at national level.

Towards this venture, the BCCI, which does not lack either funds or expertise, should be approached to lend a helping hand.

Besides the sheer ecstasy of winning, playing cricket is a very paying career option in India at present, and will remain so for many many years to come.

With the coming of IPL, cricket player are earning not just in thousands or lakhs but in crores.

Given proper facilities and coaching from an early age, there is no reason why Manipur should not be producing cricketing talents who will play all over the country and even represent it as in football.