For budding cricketers

By Rajadhyax

I often see hordes of kids in whites on the grounds or at city coaching centres dreaming to become the Sachins and Pontings of the future. Most certainly the numbers of ten-year olds who want to make a career in cricket is rising exponentially. Even the parental mentality is altering fractionally in some parts of the world and they don’t mind pushing their kid into this line if he really shows a lot of promise. Considering that it’s the start of a mint-fresh year I thought it will be in order to give a piece of advice for all these children aspiring to be international players one day.

Having spoken to hordes of First-Class players and a few players as well as technical staff with international exposure and having researched on cricket I hope to make this advice practicable and authentic. Needless to say, this article actually answers just one question: What does it take to become an international cricketer? The answers provided here, unfortunately, do not guarantee a place in the national team but still supply you with enough food for thought and action. So here it is……..

Firstly, you need to remember that from early on cricket is a competitive sport and the rise up to the international level is not a walk in the part. Turn your dreaming into planning. Strenuous fitness work outs and tremendous effort on mental make-up has to be put in even to rise up to First-Class levels in all Test playing countries. Remaining physically and mentally tough gives you a head start at all the selection-nets and matches which form the basis of your dream – or lets call it a plan. Today at under-15 and under-17 levels of cricket also there could be ten reasonably talented guys vying for a single spot in the team. Commonly the final selection occurs on the basis of psycho-somatic fitness, so that comes as the first piece of advice.

Regardless of the rise of T20 cricket and agricultural hitting, selection panels still give a lot of importance to how grounded you are in the basic technique of the game. That is why it makes a lot of sense to join an academy / clinic of a good, reliable coach who would introduce you to the right technique of playing the game. Once you know the technique, you realise which aspect of cricket – batting, bowling etc – you are better suited to and then can stick to it. Ideally whatever you choose as your specialisation should not be changed later. Develop that part of your cricket and focus on it until you are better than others of your age.

It really helps to watch international cricket regularly. That is not to suggest that you must copy them action-to-action. But you can pick up a lot of ‘dos’ and even the ‘don’ts’ by seeing them play and even learn some nuances in technique that your coach may have ignored to impart. You don’t have to lift their style but you may emulate their attitude and approach to the game. This helps in moulding yourselves as free-of-flaws cricketer. Then you must be supporting it with hours and hours of practice in the nets. Some players go through the nets just as if it was a routine. They don’t make it to very high levels. The nets are where you get to hone your skills and polish them up so well. The nets are where you must visualise as if you are playing in a crucial encounter with a tough team and thus raise your everyday seriousness in practice.

What my coach the late Kamal Bhandarkar called ‘mental cricket’ is also very important. He used to tell us that 15 minutes or more, everyday, you must play mental cricket. That means just before sleeping you must close your eyes and visualise playing in major matches. You must use all your imagination and visualise all sorts of situations. You must go ball-by-ball in your mental cricket and iron out all your flaws there too. The detailing must be excruciating so that you come through your experience as if you have really bowled a spell or completed an innings.

In addition to all this, you must talk to senior cricketers and always be eager to learn more. Learn about the rules of the game, technique, skills, strategies and so on. Learning in cricket is an endless process. It does not matter at what level you are already playing. After all these years in international cricket, men like Chanderpaul, Dravid, Strauss, Sangakarra, Kallis, Yunus, Tendulkar, Zaheer, Lee and many others still go to the coach and try to learn something new about the game. There is so much to learn in this game! Just remember that no one can ever say that he knows everything there is to know in cricket. Ever!

Practicing hard, being a good fielder, playing a lot of matches, using the right kit, having a good diet, being positive in approach, maintaining a never-say-die attitude and ‘thinking’ about cricket all the time are some other useful tips that will make it easier to make it to the highest level of the game.