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| The New Indian Express, November 28, 2003 |
| Chemplast still swears by cricket |
| Recruitment |
| By Ashok Venugopal Chennai, Nov 28 |
|
Jolly Rovers, which won the Rajah of Palayampatti Shield (first division championship) for the fourth consecutive time, is promoted by the Chemplast Group. Apart from skipper Hemang K Badani, the team has in its ranks players like Dinesh Mongia, Sujith Somasundar, S Badrinath, Kulamani Parida, Ajay Kudua, R Ramkumar and Munaf Patel. Former Indian wicket-keeper Bharath Reddy is the administrative manager, while state cricketer Abdul Jabbar is the chief coach. K Ram Mohan Rao is the assistant manager. |
| Chemplast is one of the few companies in Chennai that has been recruiting a host of current and former cricketers on a regular basis. The driving force behind the group’s sporting activities is Vijay Sankar (Director) and his sports-loving family comprising N Sankar (father and the group’s chairman) and N Kumar (uncle and vice-chairman). |
| “We are a family deeply interested in sports, particularly cricket and tennis. Years back, my grandfather K S Narayanan began sponsoring Jolly Rovers and we stick to the tradition,” says Vijay. |
| “We have both current and former players working in our organisation. We pick an active player based on the rating by Reddy, Jabbar and Rao. The player is picked as per the team’s requirement, and not for effect,” says Vijay on the company’s sports policy. |
| “A player may be taken and paid on a match-to-match, temporary (couple of months) or permanent basis based on his availability,” says Vijay adding that there are no standard payment rates. |
| Bharath Reddy elaborates on the basis of remuneration, “pay packs for a Ranji cricketer may not be the same for a Test cricketer. Likewise, a school or college cricketer will certainly be paid less than an established cricketer.” |
| “We are open to taking youngsters even in the under-17 or under-19 outfits (Jolly Rovers or Alwarpet CC) based on the team’s needs. I don’t like the idea of strict remuneration for school children, though we could pay them a stipend and provide them the accessories,” says Vijay. |
| The group discusses the annual sports budget, before recruitments. “To begin with, we may pay a school or college boy playing on part-time basis something like Rs.1500 or Rs.2000 a month. Established players get a five-figure package. This could be more or less, with every passing year depending on the budget,” adds Vijay. However, market sources indicate that on an average that top players in each team of the league earn between Rs.15,000 to Rs.40,000 a month. |
| With a short career-span, the modern-day cricketer has to constantly brave the uncertainty which hangs over his future. “When a player’s days are over, may be when he is 35 or 40, we give him an option to join our organisation mainstream, based on his utility to the organisation and not cricketing merit,” says Vijay, citing Bharath Reddy who made the transition from player to administrator. |
Over
the years, the senior division league of the Tamil Nadu Cricket
Association (TNCA) has become a major platform for players aspiring
for a place in the National side. The league, apart from being highly
competitive, offers cricketers handsome pay packages.  |
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