Letter to Somdev

For those of you who have not read the sports pages recently you missed how Somdev Devvarman shocked the tennis world number 15 Marin Cilic in the Legg Mason Classic tennis tournament. It was a fantastic and impressive win and hopefully will become a stepping stone to a promising career. Before he becomes a sensation or a thing of the past I thought I would write him a letter. Here it is.

Dear Somdev,

Congrats on the big win vs. Cilic. While you lost in the next round, no matter, you got your first big win. This will hopefully ensure a wild card to the US Open and may be you can continue to make your mark in New York. I had a few thoughts that I wanted to share with you as you begin your journey. This may be arrogant of me since I am completely inexperienced in the art managing sportsman but I would like to share them anyway.

1) Settle down in the United States. Remain an Indian citizen but train, practice and live outside India. We do not have the facilities in India to help you blossom. Nobody cares about any sport in India except for cricket and even that has its issues. Stay away.

2) The press and media in India will make you out to be the next Rod Laver. Don't let it get to your head. They are starved for heroes and you will be the next target. While that might be fun for a while, if it gets to your head, you will drop faster than Sania Mirza

3) You will probably be invited to meet the President of India after your win against Cilic. While it may seem like an over the top reaction, that is how we do it in India. Naturally you can't refuse the invite. So after the meeting, fly straight out of the country before Rajdeep Sardesai wants to interview you on your life, career and the meet and greet with the President.

4) Soon you will start reading about how you are having an affair with some up and coming Bollywood actress. More than likely it will be a publicity stunt for the actress to get known. You will hear comments from her about how you and her are "just friends". Please tune out all this nonsense. That is why I say again, if you are out of the country, training and playing tournaments you wont have to deal with this rubbish.

5) In a few weeks, someone like Ramesh Krishnan will write an article about how you should play mixed doubles with Sania Mirza. If you feel that she will make a good partner then go ahead. But don't let this "she is Indian and I am Indian so we must play together" nonsense influence your decision.

6) Observe and learn the way Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati have conducted their careers. You will not find more impressive role models and success stories. They are two of the greats of the doubles game and have survived the Indian media blast simply because they never allowed it to get to them.

7) You will probably start getting a lot of offers to endorse products. I suggest you take them. A sportsman career has an expiry date and so you should make as much money as you can. But here is the important point. Never ever do it at the expense of a tournament, practice, fitness training etc. That will be the beginning of the end, the list of cricketers who made this mistake is too long to write here.

8) Aim to win. Besides in cricket, we Indian's are happy with reaching the third round, quarter finals, etc. of tournaments. At least the Indian press gets a big kick when Sania "storms" in to the second round. While that is all good for conversation, winning is the key. Again, look at Paes, Bhupati and now Saina Nehwal.

I wish you all the best.

Regards,

PRG

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