Rahul Dravid convinces officials about need for alternative careers for budding cricketers

Financial security is an undeniable reality even in the lives of cricketers – the modern-day knights. Despite all the glitzy attractions and potential to turn millionaires overnight, cricketers still suffer from the anxiety of financial insecurity and that often sees players dropping out in their formative years, harming eventually the country’s cricketing riches.

The shrinking public sector domain has made things even more difficult for the sportsmen. The anxiety of failure often threatens promising careers and former India captain and current coach of the colts Rahul Dravid is equally worried over the issue.

The Indian cricket board, BCCI, is also aware of this and seeking an all-round approach for the budding cricketers’ development, it is mulling a concept whereby it would play the role of a facilitator to help youngsters getting a job outside the game. The idea was first brought to the table by Dravid during a recent meeting with the board officials where he stressed on enhancing life skills of young cricketers off the ground, the Times of India reported.

The former cricketer, one of the best batsmen the country has produced, was thoughtful over the fact that given the fierce competition that exists in cricket today, the youngsters do not get enough time to concentrate on their studies and that leaves them vulnerable if they fail to make it count in the lucrative business of cricket.

NCA and BCCI officials working on Dravid’s ideas

National Cricket Academy COO Tufan Ghosh along with the officials of the BCCI were working closely to give wings to the ideas suggested by Dravid, who now has served as the coach of India ‘A’ and Under-19 for over three years now and seen the problems on the ground. “Dravid and other coaches here had pointed out the need to start such a process. We are working towards formulating a structure before it is sent to the higher authorities in BCCI to get things going,” TOI quoted Ghosh as saying.

It was also reported that the BCCI was reaching out to placement firms to help in training young cricketers and offering them alternative career opportunities if they struggled to persist with the game.

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