Cricket is on a winning streak as the Indian Premier League (IPL) has taken the game to new heights. It is raining money, glamour and fame in IPL Cricket and young cricketers like Ishant Sharma and Mahendra Singh Dhoni have turned into demi-gods. Sharma is valued at $9,50,000 and Dhoni a staggering $1.5 million. Will all this hype encourage the youth to opt for sports as a career rather than a hobby?The verdict is divided; some feel that other sports are not as lucrative as cricket, while others say that IPL Cricket will help boost the profile of all games in general. Cricket has led to a wave of interest among the youth towards sports. An industry survey, government officials and institute heads, indicate that there will be an increase in the number of people opting to pursue cricket as a career and other sports will be neglected. While on the other hand, coaches, sportsmen and sports authorities feel that sports as a whole have come a long way and if a person has the passion and discipline to pursue any sport, there are ample opportunities.
"Tennis has a lot of money and can sustain itself. Moreover, people get attracted towards sports if they have icons. With Sania Mirza emerging as a youth icon for many, tennis has acquired attention from many youngsters," says Joe Sebastian, director - sports, ministry of youth affairs and sports.
However, Sebastian differentiates between cricket and other sports. "Cricket and Bollywood are two religions in Indian, so imagine the kind of money and glamour generated if they combine as they have in IPL Cricket. Even Australian players are looking forward to play in India. We have allocated a Rs 667 crore budget for covering the entire gamut of sports in our country. It is just 0.083% of the entire budget. A small country like Cuba spends over 13% of its budget for sports. And when it comes to IPL revenue, there are projections that suggest it would generate Rs 5,000 crore in the next five years. Now compare this to a meagre Rs 667 crore budget. If we estimate the deal fetched by Ishant Sharma, he will be earning Rs 1.75 lakh per ball during the IPL Cricket tournament. Not only money, cricketers are also going to earn fame like British footballer David Beckham," adds Sebastian.
There are others who feel that if you have an interest and talent for a particular sport, you would follow your passion. "It is all about sportsmanship. If a person has a passion for a particular sport like IPL Cricket, no matter how much fame and money is involved in other games, the person will follow his/her passion. In our institute IPL Cricket, we encourage people to get an education even in a game like khokho,'' opines S N Mukherjee, vice-chancellor, Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education, Gwalior, a deemed university providing a formal education in sports.
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