The sorry state of Indian Sports: What can be done?

File Photo: Saina Nehwal (L) and Mary Kom

I once got a chance to visit Germany with my dad by God’s grace. It was of course an official business tour and it was soon after India had won the ICC Cricket World cup after a gap of 28 years. While having a chat over a cup of tea with my German friend, he raised a question that was going to change my entire perception of Sports in India. “Man, you are from a country of more than a billion, why don’t you still have some legendary football players when countries smaller than India win tournaments at the international level?” To be frank, I was dumbstruck for a couple of seconds and when I regained my senses, I was left searching for words. I took some time to answer him, that though we lacked legends in football, India had produced masterpieces in Cricket. I knew that was indeed not a perfect answer. After all, what does a German have in common with a colonial game? While counting the hours in the flight back home, this question disturbed me.

Why is it that a perfect football eleven can’t be constructed from the 1 billion plus Indians? Why don’t we have a good basketball team? Why is Hockey dying in India? Talents are unrecognized, is the basic answer to all these questions. If so, why does this happen? With regards to the London Olympics 2012, we couldn’t even convert the Beijing gold into 5 more. Even Mexico managed to bag a 24 carat. It’s well known and indeed a naked truth that the invasion of Cricket in India has killed other sports. When players who have not played in a single domestic season gets a chance to play in ‘money plants’ like IPL, no wonder why so many good talents go unrecognized. Agreed, the capsule form of cricket brings the best entertainment, money, fame and name. Due to this, every child in India dreams of being the next Sachin or Dhoni. The perception becomes so strong that one even starts thinking that other sports are just useless.

We all know Yuvraj Singh from the great state of Punjab. But how many of us remember another man from the country with the same first name followed by ‘Walmiki’? The only mistake he did was that he chose to become a hockey player from Mumbai; ‘the nursery of Indian cricket’ as once remarked by Sanjay Manjrekar, to bring glory to the nation. Recently, I happened to read ‘A shot to history’, the autobiography of Abhinav Bindra where he mentioned the day when the Sports Authority of India asked him,“Baba, do you really need that much money to buy a rifle? Will it do any good?” It shows how pathetic the negligence to other sports in India was during the millennium year. The same old story continues; the fresh talent gets neglected. How many of us knew a Sushil kumar or a Vijendar Kumar before Beijing 2008?

Those who are ready to swim against the waves in Indian Sports are never known, unless they start getting into news by their hard work and strong belief in oneself. Once they start making news, the respective sports authorities make fake statements with smiling faces that they will be rehabilitated. Take for example, a Ranji cricket selection camp. Those who have the capability to bribe the officials will certainly find their slot. In many cases, the most talented players will be from poor backgrounds and will never even have a chance to fulfil their dreams. The system needs a change. Then surely, the country will change. The best possible ways to tap fresh talent is by giving the youngsters freedom to make decisions on which field of sport they should belong to. Next is to convert the raw talent into a fruitful one by the best available coaching. The corporate world should extend hands to sponsor youngsters, keeping in mind the future of Indian sports. Over-importance given to Cricket should be side-lined. Is it written somewhere that only Cricket can entertain India? Remember those days when yougsters dreamt of becoming the next Jimmy George or P.T. Usha of India? Are those days to be considered as just the past or should that be fulfilled at least in the days to come? The perception of people should change with regards to other sports. I have heard people sighing ,“Will I ever hear ‘Jana gana mana’ in my life time during Olympics?” A lot has changed since then. We have started having people like Saina Nehwal and Mary Kom from unknown quarters of the sub-continent. The signs are positive.

Jokes apart, I am looking forward to the day I can call my German friend Mr Smith to say proudly that yes buddy, India have won the football World Cup.