Virender Sehwag endorses BDM batting pads and (below) customers at a sports goods shop in Patna. Picture on right by Jai Prakash

Patna, June 27: Sports goods dealers, take heart, all is not lost yet. Video games and X-Box might have captured the imagination of the present generation and the days of being content with a bat and a ball might have been lost. But GenX is still hooked on to traditional sports though they do not settle for anything less than a complete branded kit.

Just as in cricket, the youths do not just want the bat and the ball. They crave for other accessories as well, such as helmet, uniform, chest guard, elbow guard, abdomen guard, thigh guard, knee guard, shoes, pads and wickets.

Nowadays, suppliers in the market stock a wide array of sport kits, which command ready demand among youngsters. Not only cricket kits but also kits for badminton, football, hockey, basketball, billiards and squash among other items are available.

“I am thrilled as I have purchased all accessories associated with cricket. The game is my passion and I want to establish my career in this field,” said Pawan Gupta, a school student.

Sukriti Sinha, a resident of Kankerbagh, said: “I am fond of playing basketball in monsoon and badminton in winter. Hence, I have purchased complete kits for both these sports.”

The boom in demand for the entire kits translate into brisk business for shop owners.

“Yes, the demand for sports accessories has witnessed an increase in the city in recent years,” said Surendra Chhabra, the proprietor of Chhabra Sports on Frazer Road. He added: “Cricket, billiards, squash and football accessories are mostly in demand for boys, whereas girls pick up accessories for sports like badminton, basketball and tennis among others. Branded items of quality goods are more in demand. Cricket bats of companies like SG and BDM, balls of Cosco and Nivia from Jalandhar. Headley is the leading company for shoes. We have necessary items for almost all types of sports.”

“My child is passionate about tennis. So I have come here to purchase a kit. I always prefer branded items, so it would cost me around Rs 1,500 for a complete tennis set,” said Rakesh Mehta, a businessman.

“The obsession for sports along with its frills has risen radically among the youths,” said a shop owner of the city. “Because of the easy availability of the wide collection of quality supplies at different prices, people emphasise on purchasing these things according to their budget. A variety of cricket bats are bracketed in the range of Rs 350 to Rs 20,000 in the market.”

“Our monthly outlay of products changes rapidly. Earlier, approximately 100 bats used to sell per month compared to 1,000 at present,” he said.

“Youths have more demand for cricket and badminton accessories,” said Virendra, the owner of New Kohli Sports. He added: “Cricket kits command almost 70 per cent demand among sports accessories and the rest for other sports. Head is the leading brand for tennis rackets and Unix in shuttle corks.”

Niranjan Kumar, the owner of Bihar Sports, a shop that opened this year, said: “Hockey is not so popular in the city. However, the leading brand for hockey sticks and balls is Rakshak.”