Baseball in India

Baseball in India

Baseball is played in local clubs, schools and at the university level in India. A documentary film The Only Real Game was released in 2013 tracing the roots of baseball in India to WWII when the US Army Air Force was stationed in Manipur to fly supplies to China over the Himalayas, known as "Flying the Hump." The locals learned the game from the troops and have been playing ever since, passing down the game to future generations. Because of civil unrest, the Manipuris were very isolated in this remote, impoverished state in the northeast of India. A charity, First Pitch: The US-Manipur Baseball Project was formed to help promote and develop the game of baseball. They enlisted the support of Major League Baseball International and in 2006, MLB International began sending Envoy coaches to Imphal, Manipur. This is documented in The Only Real Game currently being shown in theaters.

In a separate project, two Indian youths were selected after the "Million Dollar Arm" competition to try to pitch in professional baseball in the USA. Disney has produced a feature film entitled "Million Dollar Arm."A talent hunt found the teenagers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel. They were taken to the USA and received good coaching.[1] They went into the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league organizations. Rinku Singh played for the Canberra Cavalry of the Australian Baseball League for the competition's inaugural 2010-11 season.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Nightengale, Bob (5 November 2008). "Pair of pitchers from India eye major league opportunities". USA Today. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  2. ↑ http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/sport/baseball/cavalry-shows-its-true-colours/1982658.aspx