The bouncer can be handled more easily than the trappings of fame

So there is too much money in the game. Young men with hormones on fire,and inhibitions left behind at the last stopover,find temptation at every corner and the wherewithal to yield. They toss more in one purchase than their parents made in a couple of years,in a lifetime at times. And we look on from …

So there is too much money in the game. Young men with hormones on fire,and inhibitions left behind at the last stopover,find temptation at every corner and the wherewithal to yield. They toss more in one purchase than their parents made in a couple of years,in a lifetime at times. And we look on from the sidelines tut-tutting as the elders of our generation did to us! Surely,we say,they need to be mentored,need to be reminded of what it means to play for your country,need to be told of the responsibility they carry,of the inequities in our society its a long list.

The need for mentorship is an interesting debate. As the game grows bigger,as the opportunities increase,as a tug on the shoulder seeks to drag young athletes away from the path that brought them success,surely they need someone to nudge them back,to drag them back sometimes? I strongly believe in the need for a sounding board,something that reminds young men of why they started playing this game,of what they can achieve through it and of how they can grow as people.

It is not always necessary that growth as a player and as a person must go simultaneously,sometimes you can be a giant in one area and a dwarf in another,but it helps if it does. It is especially useful because with Indian cricket,and cricketers,there is a history,even a legacy,of arrogance. The message,sometimes subliminal,sometimes direct,is that the world needs them more than they need the world. As some of us know,that is but a momentary high but it can be a devastating high.

But the role of a mentor can also be over-stated; the need can be felt more in the mind of the mentor than in his ward,as every parent has experienced at some point. The day a player feels the need to be disciplined and respectful to his craft from within himself he acquires a work ethic and then nothing can stop him from being as good as he can be. If he needs to be reminded,then he hasnt felt it and he will at best smile and nod at a mentor. In course of time he will realise that living with fame and money is a challenge similar to learning to play the short pitched ball. Both can be career threatening. Indeed the bouncer has sometimes been conquered more easily than fame!

The argument,therefore,that young men shouldnt be offered too much is simplistic and impossible to deliver. These men possess skills that command a price and you cannot insulate them from buyers,just as you cannot a fine equities trader or a magician or a winger who runs like lightning with the ball at his feet. It has often been said that they need the likes of an Alex Ferguson to groom them. It is a fair thought and it works in football,when it does,because the manager has the power to drop a player and endanger his future if he doesnt fall in line.

That is why,in the Indian context,the selector is a critical and vastly under-exploited resource. If the selectors are men of integrity,and are seen to be putting the teams interest first at all times,they can be the agents of growth and progress that mentors sometimes cannot be. But we do not always look at it that way. The position of a selector is often a whimsical appointment where before and after his term he wants to be seen to be close to the players he is now expected to adjudicate over. It cannot be like that. A Ferguson or a Mourinho or an Ancelotti work because of the nature of the system where you play for a franchise and for money more often than when you play for your country. If you dont toe the line you lose your contract. It is something that a national body can rarely implement and yet it must!

I believe the right time to mentor players is when they are in their late teens. Thereafter all selection must be attitude based. It could well mean that a team loses a dazzling talent but inevitably the team will emerge stronger. Sadly the BCCI is too under-staffed,and not committed enough,to focus on issues around the playing of cricket and till such time it will be each man to his own. A show cause notice less and a player care notice more will do them no harm!