Sachin Tendulkar's roadmap to make India sporting superpower has potential to be a game-changer

Here are a few questions for you. What do you do for a living? Did you ever want to play professional sport? Did you start pursuing your passion in sport and then gave it all up because you needed to create a professional future (refer to answer of ‘what you currently do for a living’ here)? Did you bow down to peer pressure to pursue an engineering or doctorate degree, or indeed just went by what your parents told you when they said there is no future in sport?

The current middle-aged generation in India knows the answers to these questions really well. It was a time when the various sporting leagues in tennis, badminton, football and kabaddi were not even contemplated on paper. It was before the Indian Premier League came into existence, when parents didn’t want cricket coaching to be more than a leisurely summer-time activity. Hell, it was a time, at least two decades ago, when the big money of international cricket – arguably the most relevant international sport in India in the late 1980s until the late 1990s – hadn’t yet seeped to the smaller towns.

Sure, we had the Olympic heroes who came by once in four years. Or, the odd hockey adventure, when Dhanraj Pillay and Dilip Tirkey still ruled the roost. At times, we had Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi working up magic. Yet, following in their footsteps to make a professional career was but a dream. The harsh realities of life were imprinted deeply onto the Indian psyche – etch out a professional degree, shape up a career, and provide for your family. Sport, yes, it was but for leisure.

“If you are playing sport, there is reasonable financial security but only for a time. The worrying aspect is post-retirement days. A normal professional career is peaking when you are 35 to 40 years old, but for an athlete, his professional career is almost ending at this age,” said former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar in an exclusive chat.

The legendary batsman belonged to a sport which has the most money in India. Yet, these riches are only as recent as mid-to-late 2000s when T20 cricket was starting to come up on the horizon. Sure, even in his playing days, Tendulkar never had to worry about what he would do in his post-retirement days. But it wasn’t the same for all his colleagues, or the ones who had retired before him.

There has been even lesser money seen in other sports. From tennis, to hockey, to football, and to Olympic events, Indian athletes were for a long time left to fend for themselves. The problem was direr once they hung up their boots. These were the few amongst that generation who dared to dream even in the knowledge that rewards might not be too great.

Take the case of Sita Sahu, of whom Tendulkar would have spoken in Rajya Sabha if he had been afforded that chance on Thursday afternoon, never mind the adjournment. “She won medals for India in the 2011 Special Olympics and now has to sell gol guppas to make a living. This is a sad thing and really needs to change. We need to provide security to our athletes and have an organization in place for the same so that even after their playing years, they can continue to be gainfully employed,” said Tendulkar.

It is in this light the Rajya Sabha member (since 2012) has raised an important point, and his words have even reached Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “We need a central scheme for athletes in India, both at the national and international level. The plan is to develop centres of excellence throughout the country. It will have three-fold measures helping out athletes during different stages of their careers,” Tendulkar explained.

“First, we need to inspire and encourage our current athletes and aspiring athletes. We can do this by providing better infrastructure. The centres of excellence are an example. Our athletes should have access to world-class facilities to help them improve. Then, post retirement, instead of making them sit in offices passing files every day, they should be gainfully employed in these centres of excellence. In this way, they will continue to earn without worry as well as go out to schools and colleges, and inspire the younger generation to take up different sports, be it cricket, tennis, badminton, tennis, football and so on,” he added.

On paper, this is as firm a plan that you can imagine coming from a seasoned former sporting professional. Such facilities and schemes aren’t a mirage for athletes in other developed and developing countries where sportsmen are considered national treasure. Imagine, if this were to be a reality in India as well, then maybe more people would turn to sport as a professional career option instead of adding to the never-ending queues of unskilled engineers and mediocre doctors.

“The scene is changing off late. Thanks to various leagues that have sprung up in different sports, there is a lot more financial security in following a professional career in sport. More can be achieved though, if we are able to guarantee similar security for our retired sportsmen. They will be able to give back to society in inspiring children, if not to play professional sport then to lead healthier lives. And in a bid to be fitter and healthier, who knows we might be able to find talented spark in a billion-strong population. If we are able to do that, across different sports, then we will find a gold mine of talent,” said Tendulkar.

Often, he is accused of not speaking up for the betterment of cricket. This time around, even when his talking time was usurped by never-ending mindless politicking in the Upper House of Parliament, Tendulkar has spoken up for a cause greater than just the sport he represented for more than two decades.

Through his identity, and the reach of social media, Tendulkar has made sure his voice is heard. If only, someone, somewhere, is listening for making an earnest change to the Indian sporting scenario.