Am I a Rookie or a Pro?

Maturity has surely got to do something with age and experience, but, as far as talent is concerned, there does not seem to be any relation even remotely. This comment comes from various observations made especially in the world of sports. I would speak mostly of Indian sports as I relate closely to it.

There was a time when Sachin Tendulkar was welcomed into the big world of cricket with great pomp and show as he was the one of the younger cricketers around or perhaps the youngest cricketer India has ever produced. One may take that as an exception or a rarity saying that “well there are not many geniuses around”. But come today the ‘age of technology’, ‘the age of speed’ where everything and anything can’t wait, i.e there is no room for patience things have to be instant or rather very quick, one cannot afford to waste time.

If you wanna make it you have to make it quick because today’s India has a tremendous talent pool with competition from all round the country and the best part is talent today gets rewarded

In the Indian Premier League or any other competitive sporting competition around one can see the average age of the players participating has come drown drastically and the amount of sportspersons in their teens and early twenties outnumber their elders comfortabl. Age has got nothing to do with talent ,yes accepted but why then in the past this was not the case.Well a very big point which is to be seen here is that today India’s involvement has increased, many more people are interested in actually playing the game rather than watching it and also in today’s times one can spot the talent instantly and maybe groming part also undergoes a quick process.In short the world iis running very fast, real fast.

Ajinkya Rahane is a very famous name in Mumbai Indians camp and I remember that I have played with him when I was 12 years old and he was barely 10!!! And the same guy now will be in the Indian dressing room in few days. Nothing to take away from his talent or perseverance but what startles me is the pace at which progress is achieved.

Anybody from Maria Sharapova to Usain Bolt to Vijender Kumar are our young sporting icons. The important thing to note here is that these guys are really young and they have it in them to handle every kind of pressure at this young age which is a sign of high maturity and also good PR qualities.

But again I will make an effort to say that yes “young is in” today and maybe the trend is going to grow but also it has its own problems associated with it. Any young new performing sporting individual today is attacked by media and money and success which they had thought was years of toil and hardwork comes enclosed in an envelope all you got to do is just sign the dotted line and its done. Here talent should not be compromised and effort should be made to continue the performance and excellence amidst prosperity. Then a legend is made, then one becomes a true icon. Nobody other than Sachin Tendulkar can be a better example for this.

I have taken pains actually to comment on this issue because i am already 22 years old and after finishing a rigorous process like engineering, I still have not made the cut and yet watch people of my age and even people younger than me do things that I may perhaps not do ever in my life. Kudos to them, kudos to the emerging India and kudos to youth.
regards