Ranjit Bajaj raised questions on sports funding model. (Photo- GETTY/X)
Ranjeet Bajaj On Vaibhav Sooryavanshi: Famous football Ranjit Bajaj has raised serious questions on India’s sports funding model. He has also criticized the Chief Minister’s decision to give award to young Indian cricketer Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Ranjit Bajaj believes that in India, athletes are given help when they have already become successful, whereas the real need is to provide them financial support in the initial journey. He gave this statement recently in Raj Shamani’s podcast.
Ranjit Bajaj raised big questions on sports funding model
Ranjit Bajaj believes that in India, funding is used very less at the grassroots level, due to which players do not get support in their initial career. Ranjit Bajaj expressed his views openly giving the example of Vaibhav Suryavanshi to make the cricket fans understand easily. Vaibhav Suryavanshi was given a reward of Rs 50 lakh by the Bihar government for his strong performance in the Under-19 World Cup.
Ranjit Bajaj said, ‘Vaibhav Suryavanshi has just been given Rs 1 crore. At the same time, he has received Rs 12 crore from the deal of just one bat. Do you really think that this Rs 1 crore would make any difference to him? He will earn thousands of crores of rupees by the end of his career. If the Chief Minister had given this money as ‘Vaibhav Suryavanshi Fund’ for the development of all under-12 cricketers, then the country could have got 10 more new Vaibhav Suryavanshis from there.
India supports at the wrong time
Ranjit Bajaj further said that players in India are rewarded when they have made their mark and not when they are struggling. Bajaj said, ‘What is better? Is it better to produce 10 more players for the country or give more money to a player who is already a millionaire and doesn’t care much about him? We always support the players when they become completely successful. No one comes forward in the initial stage of his journey.
