Let the kids in for free (well, some of them)
Sachin Tendulkar thinks kids should be let into test matches for free. Perhaps not all kids:
So, Tendulkar decides to water it down, and turns it into a reward for those kids that are already successful. The "topppers". Nice idea, SRT. But I think you should stick to your original plan, and ask for free admission for all kids. Heck, for all the "youth of the country". Otherwise, 10% of 10% is a really small percentage, and we won't get anywhere with that.
We could have the toppers - either in academics or in sport - from various schools coming in to witness Test cricket. If it turns even 10% of those kids into Test cricket fans, it will be great for the gameThis quote of Tendulkar's is inadvertently hilarious. I think he starts off with the clear-cut idea that children should not be charged admission for test cricket. A public service if you will. Then, I think, somewhere in his middle-class, respectable, Indian mind, jumps the thought "Woah, this sounds a little irresponsible. This sounds like we might be encouraging truancy in schoolchildren. Parents might not like it. I can just imagine hordes of angry parents saying 'What kind of example is Sachin setting by saying that we should send the children to test matches for free? They have to study for exams! Entrance exams! Its all very fine for you, but what about our children?'"
So, Tendulkar decides to water it down, and turns it into a reward for those kids that are already successful. The "topppers". Nice idea, SRT. But I think you should stick to your original plan, and ask for free admission for all kids. Heck, for all the "youth of the country". Otherwise, 10% of 10% is a really small percentage, and we won't get anywhere with that.
posted by Samir Chopra at 8:44 AM
6 Comments:
Samir,
In today's India, would ANY academically bright child be ALLOWED to aim at becoming a cricketer, given the odds against making it?
Tendulkar's 10% of 10% seems over optimistic.
I wonder if Dravid is the last Indian international who was in this 10% elite students?
Adverbin,
I thought the same thing when I was reading SRT's comments. He pretty much made his suggestion useless by restricting it to the "toppers" (very few of whom would go on to become cricketers). To be fair to SRT, he did include sports "toppers" as well!
Samir,
That 'toppers' part did sound a bit crazy and fishy! Who cares if children play truants, that's the whole point! School children are meant to have a lot of fun in their school days, not just cram for exams and carry bags with 10kg of books!
CT: Exactly. If they miss a couple of days of school so that they can go a see a couple of days of the only test that will be played in their city in one year, whats the big deal?
Tendulkar has some good ideas on the future of the game.
Letting kids in for free is a good idea.
so is dividing 50 over cricket in to two innings of 25 overs.
CB: Kids for free is a good idea. Just don't restrict it to the toppers. The two-innings idea is interesting; I wonder how it work out.
Post a Comment
<< Home