The Rohit-Badrinath factor
Blood them young or put them through the grind
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Blood them young or put them through the grind? These questions will be asked when it comes to the immediate future of some of India's Under-19 stars. Writing in Wisden India, Anand Vasu says that the Indian system has been very good at nurturing success, but many times guilty of ruining a cricketer with the best of intentions. He compares and contrasts the treatment of Rohit Sharma and S Badrinath.
As a society, we are constantly on the hunt for celebrity, and, increasingly, associate our own well being and happiness, however fleetingly, with the deeds of others. It’s just the situation we live in; if India win, we’re happy, and feel a deep connection with those who are successful. If they lose, there’s despair, which manifests in many ways, from the trivial, such as venting frustrations on social media to the obnoxious, such as tarring the nameplates of cricketers at their residences or flinging a rock through someone’s car windows.
Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo