Cricketing brain drain continues to hurt Vidarbha

[rkt.india]

NAGPUR: In normal circumstances, everyone would have applauded Aniruddha Chore's decision to join the Indian Air Force. After all, it's an honour to serve the nation. However, those who are aware of his talent and understand the game are not happy with the Vidarbha wicketkeeper's decision to join Services. The decision to move has put an end to his Vidarbha career as Services has its own team in Ranji Trophy. Experts have always praised his talent, his work ethics and most importantly his ability to handle the pressure. The 20-year-old had shown the maturity beyond his age. Chore has always relished the challenges and, along with Apoorva Wankhede, was touted to be the next best find after Umesh Yadav. Chore's decision is a bolt from the blue for Vidarbha but not a situation that they find themselves in for the first time. Over the years, they have seen their players migrating to Railways for a 'secure' future. Though there's nothing wrong in it, this has put a check on Vidarbha's progress. Before Chore, P Vivek, Praveen Londhase, Baburao Yadav, Chandrashekhar Atram, Rahul Jadhav, Shailesh Harbade, Vikrant Deshpande, Vikrant Gonnade, Faiz Fazal, Madhusudan Acharya, Sanjog Binkar, Vikas Yadav, Amit Paunikar and Sushil Ghewande have sought job security by leaving Vidarbha. Faiz and Vikrant are the only ones who quit their jobs to return to Vidarbha. Most of them were key players of Vidarbha when they joined Railways. While Vivek and Faiz were leading the side, Atram, Acharya, Yadav and Paunikar were the regulars. Barring Fazal, no player played for Railways. Paunikar was the other one who has been part of Railways in shorter versions, while Yadav and Atram were in the squad but couldn't get the opportunity in the playing XI. Many of them aren't even part of the Division squad that plays in inter-railways (Railways selections trials tournament). "I feel sorry for the association. VCA has one of the best infrastructures in the country. It has invested in players; given them every facility; the exposure whenever they needed and when they start performing, they decide to leave," said former Vidarbha coach Sulakshan Kulkarni, who played a major role shaping Chore's career, told TOI on Tuesday. Kulkarni felt that Chore had a bright prospect with Vidarbha. "I hope he does well in the Services set up," he added. "At 20, you just need to concentrate on your cricket. If you play well, everything will fall in place. Rahul Dravid only concentrated on graduating himself at first class level when he was 18. He went on to play for the country for 15 years. Youngsters like Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara too followed in his footsteps. It's like concentrate on your studies and if you do well, you will automatically get placed in a good job. Had they thought about the job first, they would not have played for the country," he said. Kulkarni said he would have understood Chore's decision to move had he not been getting any opportunities. "But Chore has always been the first-choice wicketkeeper," he said. As is wont, VCA officials were loathe to say anything on record. However, a top official told TOI that they were "unhappy over Chore's decision, more so, because he did not consult any of us". http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/top-stories/Cricketing-brain-drain-continues-to-hurt-Vidarbha/articleshow/13058258.cms

[akshaywekhande]

Prashant Vaidya was another one to leave Vidarbha & he joined bengal that time So the only international player vca has produced is Umesh Yadav . . .