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Journalism of Courage
8226; Deepak Kumar 19 has studied in the same school as Anil Kumble and played first division cricket in Karnataka. He8217;s now traded in his cricket bat for a baseball bat
8226; Lamge Nitin 17 is a state-level hockey player from Andhra. He8217;s decided to hang up his stick and pick up the baseball bat; 8216;8216;it8217;s fast, exciting. I like it8217;8217;, he says
It may not yet be time to raise the trade barriers and slap an import duty on America8217;s favourite sport in the interests of protecting our top game, but there are healthy signs that something other than cricket is taking root.
A 10-day clinic organised in Chandigarh by the Amateur Baseball Federation of India ABFI will see 25 probables selected for the Indian team to participate in the Asian Baseball Cup, the qualifying tournament for the main Asian Cup.
And Deden, 62, was optimistic: 8216;8216;Mark my words, if the boys that we are training here go back home and pass on their experiences to other players, Indian baseball will make great strides.8217;8217;
His words are echoed by Dell 49. 8216;8216;It8217;s been a pleasant surprise for us. We came here with open minds, assuming that Indians wouldn8217;t be familiar with the game, but were taken aback by the response. I didn8217;t expect that level of catching, throwing in India. One thing is for sure, we aren8217;t starting from scratch; you8217;re well above the grassroot level.8221;
8216;8216;We have come a long way but there8217;s still a long road ahead8217;8217;, says ABFI secretary PC Bhardwaj. 8216;8216;Our achievements are great considering that we don8217;t have even a single baseball stadium in the country.8217;8217;
He8217;s aware of the realities, however. 8216;8216;We can8217;t rival a country like Japan in terms of infrastructure 8212; there, you8217;ll find a baseball playground in every school. And it will be tough for India to break through to the big league comprising Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and China in the next five years.8217;8217;
Those are countries Dell is familiar with. Since 1989, he8217;s spent his summers coaching baseball players abroad as part of MLB8217;s plan to develop and promote the game; this is his first trip to India.
8216;8216;Our main job now is to help the Indian federation develop the game, gather information, and get a first-hand knowledge of the system so that in future we can better serve the Indian baseball,8221; says Dell, who8217;ll be submitting a detailed report to MLB officials in New York on his return.
What obviously helps is the similarity between baseball and cricket more than the inning/innings printer8217;s devil, something that struck the two soon after arriving in India.
8216;8216;I watched my first cricket game on TV tonight and was amazed by the similarity. The basics are same; right from throwing, hitting, hand-eye coordination, everything is almost the same. For a cricketer to take up baseball won8217;t be difficult8217;8217;, adds Deden.
Another plus point for the Indians, they say, is their physical stature.
8216;8216;Of course, Americans and Europeans have more muscle mass. But many Indian players are good enough to compete with their rivals in south-east Asia, if not the world. Moreover, they shouldn8217;t worry about it right now. What they should think of is improving their skill and understanding of the game8217;8217;, sums up Dell.
And there8217;s something else to spur them on: catching up with Pakistan, which is among the top six Asian countries.
