Former India captain and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar on Monday said success in the traditional format brings true honor to the players and urged youngsters to aspire to excel by playing Test cricket. He encouraged them.
Vengsarkar said that while parents these days are seduced by the fame and financial benefits of success in T20 leagues, young players' focus should be solely on red-ball cricket and whether that is in other formats as well. He said it would help him achieve good results.
“Parents are overwhelmed by the success of the IPL, its teams and players,” said Vengsarkar after the publication of cricket coach Jwala Singh's book 'The Path to Cricket Excellence and Beyond' He spoke here at the event.
Vengsarkar, who is also the former chief selector who brought Virat Kohli into the national team, said that while parents may have a tendency to raise their children to be batsmen, bowlers hold equal importance irrespective of the format. He said he is doing so.
“Bowlers have a big role to play not only in IPL but also in Test cricket and they can be match-winners. Try playing Test cricket in your own country. If you are good at Test cricket, then you can You can also play games in the form of ,” he said.
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“You will only be judged by what you have done for the country in Test cricket. IPL is a good format, it is good entertainment and it meets the finances too which is also very important but Test match cricket is the ultimate.” added Vengsarkar.
Jwala, who is known for nurturing Indian batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal at an early age, said the role of parents and right-hand coaches is equally important.
“In any sport, there are three pillars: the first is the athlete, the second is the parent, and the third is the coach. It has to be a combination of efforts from all three, and that is why this It is the subject of a book,” said Jwala, giving an insight into the book he co-authored with Sreekar Mothukuri.
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“Parents today look at the IPL and a lot of media attention and (overall) results and think that their child will become a cricketer and earn a lot of money and fame. That's not the way sports work,'' added Jwala, who is also the coach of Indian batsman Prithvi Shaw.
The coach said if a kid has enough passion, he should be given a certain number of years to capitalize on it.
“If parents think that way, they are absolutely wrong. If a child has a passion (for the sport) and it continues (for years), it will work out,” he said. added.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from Syndicated News Agency Feed – PTI)