AERIAL VIEW
Agreed, Arjun scored a maiden century on his Ranji Trophy debut scoring valuable 120 runs, which helped Goa post a big total but is 120 bigger than the 212 scored by Suyash Prabhudesai?
Suyash, Goa’s very own cricketer, who plays for Royal Challengers, Bangalore alongside the Great Virat Kohli, in the IPL, anchored the innings perfectly, which helped Arjun get to the score. Suyash, a senior player now, was seen talking to Arjun regularly to calm his nerves.
But the national media and social media went berserk, saying, “like father, like son”. Yes, he scored a century like his father on debut but comparing him to mighty Tendulkar, the God of Cricket? Are we kidding?
Also, in the bargain, the media completely sidelined Suyash’s achievement.
SURAJ NANDREKAR
Editor, Goemkarponn
We have spoken a lot about nepotism in Bollywood and how it is killing the natural talent in the film industry. Still, none are talking about nepotism in sports and especially in cricket which is considered a religion in India.
There are many players who are sons of former cricketers. For example, Sachin Tendulkar’s son Arjun Tendulkar or Virendra Sehwag or Rahul Dravid’s son, the national media seems to be biased towards them.
Take, for example, the current Ranji Trophy match between Goa and Rajasthan. There have been several contributors from the Goan team, which led to Goa taking the first innings lead in a high-scoring game.
But shockingly, the national media chose to credit only Arjun Tendulkar for Goa’s success ignoring the Goan talent.
Agreed, Arjun scored a maiden century on his Ranji Trophy debut scoring valuable 120 runs, which helped Goa post a big total but is 120 bigger than the 212 scored by Suyash Prabhudesai?
Suyash, Goa’s very own cricketer, who plays for Royal Challengers, Bangalore alongside the Great Virat Kohli, in the IPL, anchored the innings perfectly, which helped Arjun get to the score. Suyash, a senior player now, was seen talking to Arjun regularly to calm his nerves.
But the national media and social media went berserk, saying, “like father, like son”. Yes, he scored a century like his father on debut but comparing him to mighty Tendulkar, the God of Cricket? Are we kidding?
Also, in the bargain, the media completely sidelined Suyash’s achievement.
If this was not enough, when Goa came to bowl, they bowled out Rajasthan for 456. Here too, Arjun picked three wickets, giving away 104 runs at an average of 4.49 and became a hero in national media.
Shockingly, the real hero Mohit Redkar, Goan talent who picked up five wickets on debut, giving away 113 runs at an average of just 2.4, was totally ignored.
For me, Mohit Redkar was a hero in bowling as he kept the batters under check right from the word go and made them work hard for every run.
On the other hand, Arjun was bowling at an average of 7.8 runs per over in the first eight
overs.
The Rajasthan opener, Y Kothari and M Larmor took him to the cleaners, but none reported this. Why? Just because he has the name, Tendulkar?
We have no intention of undermining the achievements of Arjun here. Obviously he is a great talent, and scoring a century and picking three wickets is no mean achievement.
But why ignore the talent of Suyash Prabhudesai and Mohit Redkar? Give them their credit for the sake of Indian cricket so that the best make it to the top 15 of the national team.
As it is, we now see a few players in the Indian squad are become liabilities to the team. Let every player earn his place in the team. Such undue coverage puts pressure on national selectors, who we blame for the losses at international tournaments.
Players like Suyash Prabhudesai are rare talents. Of course, Mohit needs to keep his performance consistent, but Suyash has done that and needs the support of the national media to encourage them to perform even better.
On the other hand, Arjun is a great talent but he has to work harder because the expectations from him would be high, just like his father.
The media, by projecting him as great talent so early, is doing an injustice to him. Let him perform consistently and make s mark.
Otherwise, we may see yet another Rohan Gavaskar in the making, who had to take a long route from Mumbai to West Bengal and then the Indian team, where he failed miserably.
Remember, Arjun, like Rohan has left Mumbai and come to Goa to find a flight to Indian XI.
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