Indian starlets risk being swallowed

[silentstriker]

Shark infested waters

and semi-related

Mom, I'm on television

 

[ret]

thats one of the down-side of all being in the spotlight .... i guess, players hv to keep a level head and be in a good company or it could potentially disintegrate their careers

 

[duffer]

The guardian really is a gem of anewspaper. Wish we had something like it in Australia. A great article there, I'm not surprised at all by the attitudes of certain rising stars in Indian cricket. We've seen the same thing happen to young men in all other major sports and cricket is now just joining the big boys on all levels.

 

[Cevno]

It was a mundane party in the middle of another nondescript one-day series, and the conversation was inanity itself. A young man who had played for India for a couple of seasons was part of our group, and speaking shyly about his chances of playing in the final that weekend. Out of nowhere, his agent stepped in and caught his eye. "I've got two girls arranged at an apartment," he said, oblivious of the fact that there were at least four others listening in. The player's face went pale, and he was quiet for a good few seconds. "Come on, let's go," said the agent. The player was hardly the picture of enthusiasm, and pointing to his India blazer, he said: "I can't come wearing this."

The agent just laughed. "Don't worry, I've got a change of clothes for you in the car," he said. And that was that. Within five minutes, the two of them had left. The player did little of note in a final that India lost miserably, and it's fair to say that his on-off career has hardly scaled any great heights in the half-decade since he was whisked off into the night.

Wonder who was this?

 

[duffer]

Wonder who was this?

I'm not game to speculate but I doubt instances like this are isolated.

 

[Top_Cat]

Wonder who was this?

My guess would be Yuvraj. The story fits what I've heard about him over the years. 'Unfulfilled talent' was almost a term invented for him, so wide is the gap between what he seems to possess vs what he's achieved.

 

[Cevno]

Yuvraj though has become a regular in the indian cricket team and has been the best indian ODI batsmen in the past 2 years.
Doubt it could be him?My money would be on kaif or mongia.

 

[duffer]

My guess would be Yuvraj. The story fits what I've heard about him over the years. 'Unfulfilled talent' was almost a term invented for him, so wide is the gap between what he seems to possess vs what he's achieved.

From what I've heard Yuvi wouldn't need to have girls "arranged" for him mate. Ran into him @ the X in Sydney over the summer. At an ungodly hour, in some state too. Shocked as I thought he was getting married soon.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

The player was hardly the picture of enthusiasm, and pointing to his India blazer, he said: "I can't come wearing this."

I wonder if that quote had a double meaning

 

[silentstriker]

I wonder if that quote had a double meaning

 

[Cevno]

It was perhaps yuvraj or badani or nehra or murali karthik in the last australia tour.

And this was the match-

http://stats.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/65656.html

It was on a weekend, they all had played couple of seasons, all were young and india lost miserably.
Mongia and kaif never played in a final of a tournament where india lost unless he is talking about the world cup final but that is hardly nondescript.

 

[jeevan]

Another really bothersome aspect of this is the fact that some of the cricket players come from very humble backgrounds - e.g. Munaf, Kambli, - who in many cases do not appear to have anybody to talk sense into them. And they imploded spectacularly.

As opposed to, say, Irfan - modest but guessing still solid family, and was able to keep a sane head on and bounce back. A Tendulkar OTOH, his father was a well respected poet and professor and uncle an established cricket player, always had the tools to cope. Never faltered, therefore.

 

[sportsnob]

Well, its expected isn't it. but the thing with India is that there are always bound to be good cricketers who come up because of the passion for the game but we are never going to be the champion side that Australia is if we are going to rely on talent alone.

 

[silentstriker]

A
As opposed to, say, Irfan - modest but guessing still solid family, and was able to keep a sane head on and bounce back.

I lived near Irfan Pathan in Baroda. It was pretty humble stuff overall. I think he has a pretty good head on his shoulders.

 

[adharcric]

Definitely not Yuvraj or Pathan. Probably not Kaif either. Mongia?

 

[Burgey]

Isn't it more disturbing that the player's agent, who is meant to look after his client's interests, was responsible for arranging the girls in the hotel room?

I realise that this is hardly an unusual matter in the world of professional sport, but if a player is in his formative years as an international, one would hope he'd be getting better advice than that.

It also raises questions about team management - did they know it was going on? Had they heard rumours? What steps are taken by team management to educate players about the pit falls of high profile sport?

It's a problem not unique to Indian cricketers. In the NRL here there have and are huge problems with a culture of drinking and some player behaviour has been appalling over the years. Many clubs now have education programs for their younger players, while others arrange for them to do courses at college or Tech Colleges to try and give them a sense of perspective of life in the real world. Cricket, of course, would be more difficult given that the players are over seas more often, but maybe they need to look at these things.

 

[sportsnob]

Isn't it more disturbing that the player's agent, who is meant to look after his client's interests, was responsible for arranging the girls in the hotel room?

I realise that this is hardly an unusual matter in the world of professional sport, but if a player is in his formative years as an international, one would hope he'd be getting better advice than that.

It also raises questions about team management - did they know it was going on? Had they heard rumours? What steps are taken by team management to educate players about the pit falls of high profile sport?

It's a problem not unique to Indian cricketers. In the NRL here there have and are huge problems with a culture of drinking and some player behaviour has been appalling over the years. Many clubs now have education programs for their younger players, while others arrange for them to do courses at college or Tech Colleges to try and give them a sense of perspective of life in the real world. Cricket, of course, would be more difficult given that the players are over seas more often, but maybe they need to look at these things.

Nice comment and I agree with you. But the question of management in SPORT is not a concept that is well known in India.

 

[duffer]

Good post by Burgey. At the end of the day it comes down to having good people giving you good advice and the maturity level of the kid in question.

 

[Cevno]

The story about the girls is probably made up after thinking about it.
Cannot believe it happened in front of 4 journalist and they never leaked it.Since when did journalist start to be so discreet?

 

[Burgey]

Actually mate, the phenomenon of journos reporting stuff like that is a more recent thing than you might think. There used to be something of a code that it wasn't written about.

Of course, if this only happened a few years ago, you may well be right.