Hierarchy in sports: King Cricket

Cricket is NOT the national sport of India. As hard as that is to believe, hockey is, in fact, the national sport of our country. Now to raise the contentious issue: is it because of performance that cricket gets attention or is it because of attention that the cricket team performs? Can other sports reach the level of cricket with the same amount of financial investment and expertise? If so, then what is the best way to go about it?

Cricket is undoubtedly the most followed sport in India. Most of us see more of cricketers in one day than we do our family members. Some would say that the attention that cricket gets is justified because, let’s face it; India is the best team in the world (at least on paper). Now is that because of media coverage resulting in rising expectations, which in turn invite investments and ensure higher standards?

This is probably the most clichéd line in Indian sports talk – a country of more than a billion can’t win a single Olympic gold. Until of course Abhinav Bindra. Not to take anything away from Bindra; but he did have access to high class facilities unlike many budding sportsmen of our country. Shooting is one of the few events that salvage some pride for India at multisport events and yet, nobody knew of Bindra or Rathore before their respective medals.

We’ve all seen Hilary Swank fighting it out in ‘Million Dollar Baby’; but how many actually know of MC Mary Kom, our very own 5 times World Boxing Champion. She gets a passing mention now and then in sequestered columns of the sports section. Harbhajan slapping Sreesanth is obviously bigger than Vishwanathan Anand’s world domination in the chess arena. Former sports minister Shri M.S.Gill actually asked Pullela Gopichand “who are you?” when he was accompanying Saina Nehwal after her Beijing Olympics return. While most teenagers know the whole squad of Manchester United, they fail to go beyond Baichung and Chhetri when it comes to Indian football. It is this negligence that forces young kids to turn towards cricket and join’ magnanimous’ coaching centers.

Politics plays an integral part in the destruction of many sports; most notably hockey. The coming together of IHF and HI signals a better future for hockey? Honestly, I don’t think so. The most media celebrated ‘player’ in recent times has been none other than Mr. Suresh ‘dementia’ Kalmadi! The political turmoil that takes place in cricket isn’t strong enough to overthrow the juggernaut known as BCCI. Unfortunately, other sports don’t fare as well. It is high time for actual sportspersons (not politicians) to hold eminent positions in working bodies. It is time for sport to end its much troubled marriage with politics.

Media is the all pervasive, self proclaimed moral authority of our times and reaches out to the remotest parts of the world. I’m sorry to say that some news channels seem to be solely dedicated to cricket. Anything from Yuvi’s affairs to Dhoni’s bikes finds primetime importance. Even if other sports get a fraction of the coverage that cricket garners, it’ll do wonders to their public image.

In this sorry state of affairs, one can only hope that the young talents of our country take matters into their own hands and make things happen. Rampant corruption mixed with selective publicity dampens the spirit of other sports and will help in maintaining the status quo where everything except cricket is insignificant. These sports will continue to cater to their niche audiences and we will remain a country with just a handful of Olympic medals.