Mumbai, May 19 (IANS) Indian tennis legend Leander Paes has asked the various National Sports Federations (NSF) around the country to learn from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Indian Premier League (IPL) how to professionalise sports not only at the top of the pyramid but also at the grassroots level.

“When you look at that, there is so much to learn from the BCCI and the IPL. I think every other sporting governance can come together and work with the IPL and BCCI, and learn from them how to professionalise sport—not just at the top of the pyramid where you have the best athletes in the world, but also at the grassroots level,” Paes told IANS on the sidelines of a press conference organised by the Tennis Premier League in Mumbai on Tuesday.

While talking about the sports atmosphere in the country, the 52-year-old Paes, who has won eight men’s doubles and ten mixed doubles Grand Slam titles in a career spanning nearly three decades, said sports like hockey, football, tennis, and badminton should follow the way the BCCI supports grassroots cricket.

“When you look at the BCCI supporting grassroots cricket, that is exactly what hockey, football, tennis, and badminton should also do,” said the former India tennis player from Kolkata who recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party before the Assembly Elections in West Bengal.

The Paes, who has seen the growth of all sports in the country in the last four decades, said being a professional athlete in India is very tough considering the high costs and little support.

“I have tremendous respect for all the youngsters who, on the global stage, represent India. It’s not easy to be a professional athlete from India. The cost, the travel, the hotel, the coaching, the rehab—it’s a very expensive effort to play global sport,” said Paes, one of only three men in the Open era to hold a career Grand Slam in men’s doubles and mixed doubles.

Paes is currently the brand ambassador of the GS Delhi Aces franchise in the Tennis Premier League.

–IANS

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