Email Us Forum Mail Article Print Article

The Inside View: Issue 6

Friday, August 15 2003

Welcome everybody to another issue of The Inside View. Issue 6 focuses on the incredibly high salaries of our national sportsmen and argues, "Are our cricketers paid too much?"

Religion, Cricket...it's just one and the same thing. The passion for the game, and the fact that all people of different religions can unite for just one game in India is just amazing. Something which reminds me of Brazil, England and Italy with football.But this passion, creates many new problems. Problems which I personally find, morally wrong and downright greedy.

Recently, arguably the greatest batsman of all time and India's favorite son Sachin Tendulkar, was seen to have been gifted a lovely Ferrari 360 Modena by the international FIAT automobile group for surpassing Don Bradman's 29 test centuries. A car not even superstars Hrithik Roshan or Shah Rukh Khan can claim to ever dream of owning.

The Ferrari, a lovely red colour for Sachin, was worth about US$163,000 or about Rs. 7,400,000. The whole idea of obtaining a car from overseas or anywhere for that matter is the payment of the duty, as written in the books of law. The duty, of approximately US$245,000 was turned down by the Indian Government, because our hero Sachin Tendulkar refused to pay it.

Sachin Tendulkar may be our national treasure, he maybe a brilliant man and an honest and hardworking man. But for a man who earns US$20 million a year in match fees, salary and sponsorships. Sachin, clearly can afford to pay this duty fee, and as an Indian Citizen one would think he should have. It's unfortunate to hear that FIAT will be paying this duty.

Nonetheless, its common to see Sachin's face on just about every billboard in the land. Sachin has deals with WorldTel, MRF, FIAT, Adidas, Visa, owns a chain of authentic "Tendulkar's" five star restaurants, and the money keeps piling in for him. Rahul Dravid is in a similar boat with many international corporations vying for his face. Not to forget Indian Captain, Sourav Ganguly and young, exciting role models Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag.

Sure, being a cricketer is just like any other career. Monetary gains must be made. Everyone who is skilled, works hard with a passion deserves the right to earn their wages. But in a country in need of infrastructure, organisation and food for the poor, and the homeless, one can see that the gap is ever so large between Sachin Tendulkar and Mr.Average Indian.

Families need to be raised, kids need their education, the elderly need appropriate services and support. Most of all everybody needs food, and if someone like Tendulkar or Ganguly gave just 10% of their yearly "earnings" to local charity, local orphanages, local food drive services, India would be a better place to live in. Despite the economic boom in India and the continuous growth in the Electronic/Computer sector, some poverty still exists. Just a little money well donated could make the difference.

During the 2003 Cricket World Cup, India stuck to it's guns and used the same 12-13 players every game. Players like Ajit Agarkar, Sanjay Bangar and Parthiv Patel did not get to touch the ground as a member in the starting XI, and players like Tinu Yohannan and VVS Laxman didn't even make the trip.

Players like Yohannan, Laxman and Ratra received unbelievable six figure $US salaries as "World Cup Bonuses", while players like Ganguly, Tendulkar, Dravid and Sehwag received millions of dollars for getting to the final of the World Cup, and that is without sponsor bonuses and the World Cup prize money.

People are starving for food, and the amount of money given to people who just play a simple game with a wooden plank and a leather ball is just absolutely insane. Agree or not, the margin is huge, and no matter how much we as a nation love these players or respect them, it is time for them to give something back to the community, rather than just entertainment.

Issue 5 Feedback

Thanks to everyone generous enough to send me their feedback. Your feedback is important to us, as it always helps us improve "The Inside View" and Cricketweb.net in general.

From: Ramasadagopan

The most heartening part of the current Indian team is its unity and a sense of harmony. This very thing will be under a great threat if Bedi is there in the team.
I would never consider him a team man, given his recent unwanted outbursts against the Indian team. He was never the lead man of the spin quartet. Chandra would have
been a great asset, not this lamenting moron bedi.
the rest of the team really deserves the accolades.

Ram

The Inside View's Reply

Dear Ram,

Thank You for your intelligent and thought provoking comments. They are important to us at CricketWeb and help improve "The Inside View" and our coverage of Indian Cricket.

To an extent, I agree with you. Bishen Singh Bedi indeed is a character. Although he is statistically is one of the greatest players India has produced. Every team needs a character, and cricket needs a character. On the other hand Chandra was a magician on his day with the ball.

The main emphasis on selecting the Indian All Time XI was on performance, diligence, credibility and of course honesty/ethics in the game. A potential great such as Mohammad Azharuddin missed out on the honor of being named, due to his illegitimate actions. Although Bedi has a hot tongue, he was always recognised as a honest, credible and hard working cricketer.

Thank's for your compliments about the CricketWeb Indian All Time XI, and thanks for supporting "The Inside View" and Cricketweb.

That's all for today's edition of "The Inside View". Thanks for taking the time to read through today's edition. Your feedback is important to us, keep it coming at: sangrah.bhatia@cricketweb.net.

Take Care,

Sangrah Bhatia



Posted by Sangrah