Singapore will be counting on a quartet of junior Indian cricketers to take them to the 2011 World Cup.
For a monthly salary of 2500 dollars, four youngsters from Pune -- Chetan Suryavanshi, Dharmichand Mulewa, Kiran Adhav and Sagar Kulkarni -- have been recruited by the Singapore Cricket Association in a bid to qualify or the event.
The players will touch down in Singapore, employed as coaches but will also double up as players as and when the need arises.
The SCA is investing $600,000 over the next four years in a bid to get to the 2011 World Cup and the money will be spent on the four young cricketers from India who in turn are expected to give the game a much-needed boost in Singapore.
Down the line, the SCA also plans to include these Pune boys in national teams and the association may also apply for citizenships for them, provided "they show enough commitment and interest", SCA secretary Anil Kalaver was quoted as saying by the Straits Times.
The quartet will also be sent to Cricket Australia's academy in Adelaide for a Level I coaching course, Kalaver said.
"Our aim is to qualify for the 2011 World Cup. But we don't have enough coaches and players. So they will coach the school kids, who will form the base for future national players. They may also play for the national team in future."
Other than the lucrative deal, the other attraction is the chance to play top-level cricket. Under international rules, national sides may field up to two non-citizens, provided they have stayed in the country for four years.
But not all are happy with SCA's move and some players and parents have expressed their unhapiness. "Should they play for the national team where will their loyalties lie? And will locals be denied a place because of them?" asked a player.
"At the end of the day, national pride, and not money, should be the reason we play for the national team," he argued.
But national captain Zubin Shroff defended the programme.
"For around $40,000 a year, you get a coach and a player. That's good value. Playing with these boys will help to raise the standard of the local players."
