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The associations, too, need to change their mindsets. At any given time, there are about 2000 to 3000 kids playing cricket in academies and coaching camps in Chennai alone. Obviously just the selectors and former cricketers can’t be spotting all the talent. People from associations, who run these academies, need to do that extra bit when they see a special talent. They should try and persuade the child’s parents to let the child pursue a life in cricket. While this might sound a bit intrusive, but it is sometimes needed. The media, too, is obsessed with icons, and understandably so, given that media houses exist to make a profit. But they too need to take the game at the lower levels more seriously.

Once cricket is seen as a possible profession, a youngster’s life can be so altered that cricket becomes second nature to him. After all, as professional cricketers, we are being paid to do what we do. My friends often tell me, “You cricketers earn a lot.” This is a silly way of looking at things. I concede that for the actual four days of a first-class match we are paid well, but a whole lot goes into making us deserving of playing those four days. Sometimes we end up doing more than what a person does at a regular day job.

At the same time, I understand what the common man means when he says that cricketers earn a lot. That is why all cricketers need to understand that in order to earn their pay, they need to go beyond runs and wickets. If one wants a job in a bank, one has to learn about finance in school and college and take a degree in a relevant subject. That is the groundwork one has to do. Similarly, there is certain groundwork that each cricketer needs to do, in order to earn and justify the earnings. I call it a player’s cricketing ethics.

It is possible to get a degree in Engineering by merely passing the exams and not really learning the concepts in depth, and also get a job based on that degree. Similarly, a cricketer can waste the opportunities in the nets and in training, and with some talent still play professional cricket. One has to work purposefully hard at training, at educating oneself in the right cricket ethics, because one is being paid to play, and at the same time it is a privilege to play first-class cricket. A first-class cricketer in India now earns close to Rs 1.5 lakh per Ranji match. If he doesn’t justify his pay as much as he possibly can, he is denying someone else this earning.

At the same time it is not so serious and tough; the enjoyment factor still has to be there, after all this is sport. But if we’re serious about improving as a cricketing nation, then cricketers need to take responsibility for professionalism. There’s no point just saying that we’ll win the next World Cup, in 2011, or the next one. We need to ask ourselves what we are actually doing to make that happen.

Firstly, we need to get our cricketing ethics right, and not just the players who are playing international cricket. We need to start with the kids, in the manner that a country like China starts preparing young children for the Olympics that may happen 8-12 years later. Rather than telling kids, “Perform, or you’ll be dropped”, we need to get a genuine cricket culture going. I’ve heard a lot about the sporting culture in Australia, and I’m sure that has not come about overnight. Similarly we need a change in mindset across the board, and it will take time.

Only if all these things happen, will we have a realistic chance of building a cricket team that can challenge Australia. I started with Hussey, and I’ll finish with him. Even with so many cricketers pushing for his place, he plays on, his game keeps developing all the time. It’s because he does not fear for his spot in the side. In India, when a cricketer is under pressure, everyone gets after him – the media, former players, selectors, even his own team-mates, but this doesn’t happen in Australia. That’s because their players have struggled at each level to climb up a very long ladder, and earned respect. That’s because they have strong cricketing ethics, and that’s what we need to emulate, not the end result.

Yeah, true that the culture is different in Australia and India and that contributes to the way we approach sport as a career.

As for professionalism it's not that cricketers don't want to be professional in India. Many yearn for it, how many times have we sighed seeing the way Australia play or even the standard of the Cricket grounds in Australia and the facilities for the spectators in Australian grounds, but no one has a clue about where to start. It obviously has to start from the administration but Cricket administration in India has been nothing but politics, albeit in a more polished way.

Taking out politics and politicians from the sport and infusing it with people who genuinely love and care for the game wouldn't be a bad idea. It may not guarantee immediate success but we would have at least made the start and can be rest assured that it would lead to better things.

Good article Ashwin... wise words from a young guy.

The professionalism would also help in giving a boost to domestic cricket. The Ranji matches must be given a lot of importance as that is probably the only competition with a team identification. I think it would be better of to eliminate the Deodhar/Dullep/Challenger tournament and have the Ranji as the only domestic tournament . Of course they can have a One Day and 20-20 tournaments along the same lines with state based teams.
In a team game like cricket, identification with a team is very important, and would help in motivatng a players performance further.
Ashwin will play for Tamilnadu in the Ranji, however in Duleep/Deodhar/Challensger he will play for himself to impress selectors for a chance in national team.

Candid,truthful and effective.I get your point crystal clear. Nothing effective is achieved without the right attitude, and that is something true to all walks of life. Perhaps in case of sport, especially where teams are involved, professionalism is something, as u rightly put, that sets one apart from others in terms of standards.
I totally agree with the fact that cricketers should be encouraged to play for the love of the game, and have the constant desire to not only emulate the best, but maybe even go further. People need to change their mindset, and accept cricket as a profession, something similar to any other occupation, and something that requires the right education and the right ethics. Cricket is a sport that's sponsored well in our country, and i feel its good enough to let people play their hearts out without always feeling pressured... which is something more easily said than done, but is the need of hour.
Wish u a speedy recovery.. and great season ahead

Wonderful article Ashwin. You have shown glimpses of your matured thinking and also the ability to look at things in a different perspective.

To take a decision on whether you want your kid to be a fulltime sportsman is a tough one in a country like India, but still there are people who have taken this bold decision. Often it's not the financial background which is the constraint but it's the fear of failure. You can't have a plan B if you are committed 100% to plan A.

I've seen Hemang Badani and Vasanth Saravanan from school days. They both wanted to be cricketers and nothing else. One went to the highest level and the other did his best at the immediate lower level. But the common thing is both have succeeded in their own ways. Success is not reaching the top always. It also means doing your best and making a name for yourself in the sport.

If people can accept this then we will see many more gifted cricketers pursuing the game full time rather giving up halfway through.

BTW this phenom of people having the tough call to make to become a sportsperson vs working career is not unique to India.

I know that athletes in Canada who have had to make that call and then have to pay for it. The government support is minimal and the athlete do it by paying from their own pockets. They try to sign lucrative contracts if they win something or else get a working job after they retire.

The only thing that is particular wrt to India is society pressure and hence parents/kids have to take actions to satisfy that pressure vis-a-vis rat race. You can't do any bloody thing freely and this is predominant even with indians visiting abroad. Indians should stop living a life for the society sake and live for themselves. Then everything will fall in place.