Known for its hot weather, hot food and hot women; no wonder India does not care about the winter sports. Well, any sports for that matter. Cricket? Well, that is almost a religion now. In the pie chart representing the effect of sports in India, I am pretty sure there will be only two classes; cricket and others. It is nothing new. We have more or less accepted the fact that this is the only game where we can command some respect. Then what makes me complain about the winter sports? When the national game of hockey is in shambles, I could hardly complain about skiing. However, there is a reason.
Did you know that India had 3 athletes in the winter Olympics held in Vancouver this year? Well, when you were busy watching the India-South Africa series, they were representing India in a global sports event. True, it is not really a priority for India. But would you let your athletes go to a stage like that without a uniform? Yes, they did not get even a uniform from the Indian government. The responsibility was taken up by local Indian crowd in Canada to supply them the uniform and raise funds for the contingent as reported by BBC and the Canadian media. Did you get to hear about it in the Indian media? If you did, please let me know.
Today all the money for sports in India is in cricket. Over a billion people going crazy over it obviously gives the corporate sector, which holds the money, the right reasons to sponsor cricket. Parties are thrown in the honor of the cricketers, awards announced and temples built. BCCI did a good job on sales and marketing capitalizing on the situation and went on to become the richest sports body in the world (F1, soccer, NBA all included). The achievement of cricket is commendable. But what about the ‘others’? The question has been put for quite some time now. Obviously BCCI won’t do anything. Neither will the corporate sector. The sports ministry, I do not know. The burden of moving politics is huge. I was wondering if the cricketers, who are getting paid in millions, will realize the value of the other sports. What if they appreciate the effort of their fellow-athletes who are in no way lesser in passion and dedication; but suffer because they chose the wrong sports in the wrong country? I guess they could do something about it. The nation watches them and follows them. Their lead could be crucial. They being the Gods of the religion of cricket probably should share responsibilities beyond their own field.
1 comment:
It is shameful but it is also true that to come into the limelight you have to perform. Earlier cricket was the same like other sports. It is the performance that put them in limelight. I am not taking side of cricket but that is the fact. However, it is also true that our govt. is so worthless that they even do not care about any sports and that makes the situation more complicated
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