Saturday, 8 March 2014

Next Tendulkar Will be from Tacna!!!!


I was reading a series of articles about the cricket being played in the Latin American countries. I have heard about the Argentine side and I know by now, they seem to be the best side in the region. The ICC has been conducting America’s tournaments here, and many counties, known for their football acumen has fielded their teams here.
In the last Americas championship, in division three, Belize won with Peru gaining a runner’s up trophy. Then again I stumbled up on the Peruvian cricket team, and started researching about their cricketing development. It is very interesting, as this country has a colorful history and they are always fond of sports too. They had participated in the 1970, 1978, 1982 football championships and has produced numerous football icons like Teofilo Cubillas,Hector Chumpitaz and Hugo Sotil. They have a vibrant soccer culture out there and have performed brilliantly in tournaments like Copa America too.
The Peruvian cricket Association website says cricket has been played there since the last 150 years. Still it seems not at all popular there. They have a domestic cricketing culture, comprising 6 teams-The kite flyers,Lima cricket and Football club,Eidgenossen and Chak De. These sides would be competing for the Chimu Adventures cricket Veloz trophy.They usually had a cricketing season at the LCFC (Which is the sanctum sanctorum of Peruvian cricket). These days Twnety20 games are played too, along with some foreign teams playing against the locals. A vibrant expatriate population, mainly the British,Indian and Pakistanis are there too.
Going through the performance of the national team in various matches, I felt they need more infrastructure and promotion. The media must take the initiative and promote the game earnestly. Talent is there, it is very obvious.The Markham College has been doing a tremendous job here.  They under-13 team won the South American under-13 champion ship and it looks like a good sign.Many of them seems like were born and brought up in the country too. Surely they are the future. Most of the matches were pretty low scoring so peru need to concentrate mainly on their batting and this will be vital.The senior team performed poorly in the South American Championship, held at Buenos aires in 2013.They lost all the games, and this tells us the importance of the basics. Most of the scores were very low and they need to practice hard for their batting. Most of the names of the Peruvian players who played here seemed anglicized (Tony Sanford,Harry Hildebrand) unlike the Under-13 team ( Lewis Paredes,Diego La punte etc).It means the upcoming generation is getting more interested in the game and taking it more seriously.
Anyway we can take everything in a positive manner. I am happy to say this country knows cricket for the last 150 years. What they need is just a helping hand. Countries like India, Pakistan,Bangladesh,England,Australia can help them. World Is getting very small. We cannot hide inside a cocoon these days. We need interaction, hopes and love and all the boundaries are shaking. If we can do this to this great country, we may be speaking about another Sachin Tendulkar who was taught cricket at the alleys of the small Peruvian town,Tacna.
Bravo champions !!







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