'Agent-sharks and youngsters with 'attitood' have queered the pitch for India's promising cricketers,' writes Dileep Premachandran in his Guardian blog.

It was a mundane party in the middle of another nondescript one-day series, and the conversation was inanity itself. A young man who had played for India for a couple of seasons was part of our group, and speaking shyly about his chances of playing in the final that weekend. Out of nowhere, his agent stepped in and caught his eye. "I've got two girls arranged at an apartment," he said, oblivious of the fact that there were at least four others listening in. The player's face went pale, and he was quiet for a good few seconds. "Come on, let's go," said the agent. The player was hardly the picture of enthusiasm, and pointing to his India blazer, he said: "I can't come wearing this."

The agent just laughed. "Don't worry, I've got a change of clothes for you in the car," he said. And that was that. Within five minutes, the two of them had left. The player did little of note in a final that India lost miserably, and it's fair to say that his on-off career has hardly scaled any great heights in the half-decade since he was whisked off into the night.