Modern cricketers have greater self-belief, opined experts of the game, especially due to a fat pay-cheque. Moreover, they say, the game has now been populated by players of non-metro cities as much as players from metro cities, which was a tall order earlier.
Shishir Hattangadi, former first-class cricketer for Mumbai as well as selector for Mumbai Cricket Association, said that the major change in the attitudes of Indian cricketers came about with their financial stability. “What has changed from my time is that we were a bit shy, we had a sense of inferiority because we were not up to the dominators of world cricket. What has changed now primarily is that cricketers have become financially stable…that comes with the IPL, of course…and the fact that they have got enough in the bank to believe that they can look anybody in the eye, and of course they have the skill and training,” said Hattangadi in an interview to India Today.
He said that during the time he was playing, the game was mostly spread across the metros like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru, but now it has gone into the rural part of the country. “Everyone has a story, everyone aspires because they have seen stories like of Shami, the Pandyas…the non-metro cricketers to come up and make themselves be counted on the world stage,” he said referring to bowler Mohammed Shami and the all-rounder sibling duo, Krunal and Hardik Pandya.
Hattangadi said that the confidence in the cricketers now also comes from playing IPL, where they play along with international cricketers. “They know they are no different. They have the same anxiety, the same insecurities, the same tensions when you play a big game. They all understood that they are all human, whether you come from South Africa, England or wherever, you have the confidence to deal with all these pressures and you know you are financially secure, which makes a lot of difference,” he explained.
Veteran sports journalist Suresh Menon also agreed with Hattangadi. “We haven’t given enough credit to Sourav Ganguly for encouraging cricketers from less-popular zones. The other thing is the spread of television over the years. Anyone sitting in the backwaters can watch international cricket and they can see the fame and fortune that they have. This can be a tremendous motivation,” said Menon. He further stated that money and the fact that one can make a living out of playing the game are added motivators. He said that many players believe that there is a step-by-step progression to the top, even if only 11 are able to represent the country, out of maybe 50,000 that are playing some level and form of the game.
The comments come after India’s spectacular performance in the ICC World Cup 2023, storming the way to the finals. India has won all of the group stage games as well as the semi-final and is at the top of the scoreboard. India will now face its nemesis Australia in the finals, scheduled to be held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19.
All eyes will be on Virat Kohli, who is the highest run-scorer with 711 runs in 10 innings, and Mohammed Shami, who has the highest wickets under his name at 23. The rest of the Indian batting lineup is also a force to reckon with, with skipper Rohit Sharma hitting 550 in 10 innings. Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja are all in fine form. The bowlers, a combination of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Jadeja, along with Shami have repeatedly showcased their sublime form too.
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