Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain of the Indian team which won the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa, has attributed the team’s victory to the presence of so many players from non-metropolitan cities.
“Guys coming from small-time towns are generally mentally and physically tougher than those coming from the metros. The infrastructure and facilities are not there and so players from smaller towns have to work harder,” Captain Victorious said in Bombay yesterday.
Questions: Is Dhoni right or is this just good spin? Is India’s relatively poor performance on the cricket field all this while been because the team has been stuffed full with hoity-toity, nose-in-the-air English-speaking upmarket urban types? Are metropolitan cricketers too complacent and not too hungry for success? Does Dhoni’s theory work only in cricket, or does it work in other areas of lif, too? Does India, as a wise man once said, live in its villages (and towns and tier-2 cities)?
churumuri 
Education mellows sportsmen. Look at how school dropouts do so well for Australia (not just in Kricket!). Education is inversely proportional to success in sports.
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i see a bright future of our ‘non keeping’ wicket keeper in the arena of politics
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This is exactly what Dodda Ganesh, Sunil Joshi and other ex-cricketeers of Karnataka are lamenting about. That they were not given enough prominence and opportunity in the team. Small towners have always been neglected by Brijesh Patel and his team.
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Doni sahebre, 1983 world cup India geddaga ella cricketers halli inda bandidra?
En matadta iddira?
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This theory has been bandied about since a few years now. Even if it is true, it only takes initial success and money for these small-town types to move to the metro areas and then lose their edge!
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haLLIyavaraadareni siva nagaradavaraadarenu sive cricket channaagi aaDidre sari siva
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Dhoni’s theory is as close to valid as any generalisation can get. Look at the recent spate of reality television shows – The Indian idol, star voice of India and others in the genre . Most of the big prize money is won by the gritty small towners. Any HR manager will tell you – off-the-record – that companies often conciously opt for the lean and hungry guy from the backwoods college who will move mountains to make that sales target, over candidates from top tier institutions with better academic qualifications .
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Pure nonsense….
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everyone is entitled to an opinion, however stupid it may be. Even more stupid is to actually waste time and resources debating stupid opinions.
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I don’t know about cricket or sports, but generally yes, small towners are definitely stronger, well… thats what I have seen and experienced at least.
I came from a small town to Bangalore city 9 years ago and the journey since then has been tough and rigid for me. People like me have to suffer in every aspect of life which eventually makes them stronger, where as most city bred folks are often delicate darlings.
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Actually, I think it is a reflection of the fact that opportunities have spread beyond the cities. What was once seen as an elite-Bombay-Bangalore-Kolkata sport has now spread across the country, and its doors are open to anyone who can hit the ball 116m ;)
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Mysore can always be proud of our great bowler. Sad, none followed him. Till about few year back, I used to hear about a Dharmichand who could have made it big. But then, he was an off-spinner directly in competition with a very mediocore Udit Patel who was always preferred.
Let us now hope more non-Bangalore talent gets looked at, since KSCA is now headed by a Mysorean.
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There surely is a lot of talent in rural India. It’s just that most of them do not get the exposure they deserve. I disagree about the physically and mentally tough bit. It requires one to be lot more physically and mentally tougher to survive in cities, than in rural areas. Life is a lot easier in Mysore, Kolhapur, Poona,Chikmaglur or Ranchi than in Bangalore or Mumbai.
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