India is a land of family businesses. It is also a land of successful cricketers. However, the two have never worked in unison. There are few father-son duos who have played cricket, even fewer who have managed to be counted as successful. So, about a week ago, when Sachin Tendulkar appealed to the media to let his son Arjun be, you know where he was coming from.

It is certainly not easy for the children of these sporting legends to gain recognition in the sport. For Arjun, who has chosen to take up cricket atleast for now, the challenge will not be in making it to the U-19 team or the Ranji Trophy team. It will be equalling or maybe even bettering his father’s skill. Ask a Brian Lara or Ricky Ponting how difficult a feat that would be.

To illustrate this further, let’s take members from the 1983 World Cup winning side and see how their sons are faring. The most successful of the lot was Sunil Gavaskar’s son Rohan who did play for India in some one-day matches. But he was nowhere close to his father’s cricketing skills. Very few in India are, actually. Srikkanth Anirudha is but a shadow of his father’s batting skills, with Kris Srikanth already being alleged of favouritism when Anirudh was selected for the emerging players tournament in Australia. The problem is that even if the selection was honest, such charges will always be levelled against them. Another one who could not make the cut to the national side is Stuart Binny, Roger Binny’s son, who plays for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Others you have probably not even heard of. Dilip Vengsarkar’s son Nakul is an interior designer and architect while Madan Lal’s son Kunal Lal is also a cricketer. Kirti Azad’s sons Surya and Soumya and Syed Kirmani’s son Sadiq too play cricket but are hardly talked about. Sandip Patil’s son Chirag has gone on to become an actor. Not much is known about Balwinder Singh Sandhu or Sunil Walson’s family either.

As has been happening in our country, our success has always been measured on the scale of our father’s. Seems unfair on the father and son alike, but how well we do professionally will be measured on whether we eclipsed our father’s achievements. By way of making more money, achieving a higher position or doing better than him professionally. Things get far worse, as Arjun is finding out, if you choose the same profession as your father.

If Arjun is as mad about cricket as Sachin claims, he will find a way out. There are examples in Indian cricket from where the young kid could take lessons from. The Amarnath family, the famous Lala and his son Mohinder Amarnath or even Vijay and Sanjay Manjrekar. But there are many more who have struggled living up to their father’s reputation. Cricket after all is not a family business.