Long associated with the perils of naxalism, the forests and winding village roads of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region have been witness to a different kind of gathering over the past few years. Communities led by cheerful children now spill across uneven grounds carved out of red earth, where sport is steadily creating new possibilities.
On a recent summer afternoon in Chhindnar village in Dantewada, those grounds came alive once again as one of India’s greatest sportsmen, Sachin Tendulkar, paid them a visit. The idea? To help smooth the pitch for the “diamonds that need polishing,” as Sachin described the children present there. Some waited with handmade posters while others stood quietly rehearsing what they might say if they got the chance to meet him. For many of them, it was their first glimpse of the ‘God of Cricket’
“We had only seen him on television,” said 13-year-old Bhumika, still in half-belief after the experience. “Sir, play with us on our own ground. We felt so happy.”
Tendulkar and his family were in Dantewada as part of the Sachin Tendulkar Foundation’s partnership with the Mann Deshi Foundation and the district administration to support the ‘Maidan Cup’ initiative, an effort aimed at building and revitalising playgrounds across villages in Bastar. The programme plans to create nearly 50 community sports grounds and engage more than 5,000 children through structured training in cricket, athletics, kabaddi, kho-kho and volleyball.
“As a district that has consistently invested in sports as a tool for youth development and social transformation, we see the Maidan Cup initiative as both a valuable contribution and a strong encouragement to our vision. Sachin Tendulkar’s visit and interaction with our children inspired them to dream bigger and reinforced the belief that talent can emerge from every corner of India,” says Devesh Kumar Dhruv, Collector, Dantewada.
In regions like Bastar, where decades of insurgency disrupted not only infrastructure but also social confidence, public spaces carry emotional significance. A functioning playground is rarely just a playground – it becomes a gathering point and a marker of normalcy.
Most of the grounds are modest, assembled through local participation, often using bamboo fencing, community labour and low-cost infrastructure models. Coaches travel from village to village. Yet the scale seems quietly ambitious.
More than 20 grounds have already been developed or revived through community-led models.
“When children begin showing up every evening to play, when parents gather around the ground instead of worrying about safety after dark, something changes in the rhythm of a village,” says Divya Sinha from the Mann Deshi Foundation.
For 14-year-old Raju Telam, the field carries the weight of his and his grandparents’ dreams. “We usually don’t have much happening here. School to home, home to the playground, is our routine. I’m continuing my studies in the hope of pursuing higher education, but at the same time, these playgrounds have brought me closer to my dream of becoming a cricketer.”
Standing beside him, 13-year-old Sanju Kashyap smiles, “Sometimes, when we’re playing till late afternoon, our elder brothers join in and give us tips. We want to reach the district level first, and hopefully bring glory to our village.”
In many ways, these playgrounds are becoming symbols of a region steadily reclaiming its confidence through its youngest generation.
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