Vaibhav Arora & Himanshu Shekhar
Sports in India is nothing short of a religion and sportsmen are considered as demigods by the millions of sports lovers across the length and breadth of the nation.
However, if we sum up our performance in various international sporting events post independence, it is extremely disheartening to see that our list of achievements has been miniscule in spite of having millions of young and enthusiastic sports lovers.
So, why is it then that our sports persons fail to rise up to the expectations of the countrymen and cut a sorry figure at world class competitions when pitted against a sizable opposition?
Apart from some substantial victories in a few privileged games such as cricket, chess and tennis, we have very little else to boast of at the International scene. Our performance in prestigious sporting events including the Olympics is extremely disappointing and the medals won in over a century of participation can be counted on finger tips.
As India celebrates her 62nd Independence Day, as a sports writer one finds it extremely difficult to explain the reasons behind just a handful of victories despite a population of over a billion sports fanatics. What makes the issue even more baffling is the fact that even tiny countries like Cuba and Ethiopia have had plenty more success than us.
Off late, while cricket and cricketers have flourished, may be not in terms of the number of victories but certainly in terms of the moolah earned, other games have gone from bad to worse. Lack of government funding is a major reason for the downfall.
Hockey, which was our stronghold a few decades ago, has also suffered the same fate as the Indian team failed to qualify for the Olympics. The situation seems hopeless with little or no chance of a revival. The statement may seem a bit exaggerated but how else do you explain the eight times Olympic gold medal winners having to rely on the officials for a wildcard to participate in the Champions Trophy.
While India has made significant progress in all other fields over the past few decades, the most painful and stinging loss has been in the world of sports, where the only achievements of note have been in the game of hockey (8 Olympic Gold, 1975 World Cup) and cricket (1983 World Cup, 2007 Twenty20 World Cup). Most of the other sports have failed to produce any performance worth mentioning.
While the country has produced some sportspersons of international class like Milkha Singh and P.T Usha, even they could not find themselves on the medal tally when it came to the biggest sporting extravaganza, the Olympics. The performance of the Indian sportspersons in the recently concluded Olympic Games in Beijing, where we won a record three medals, has been encouraging but not enough to bring about a revolution. Not only at the international level, but the performance of the sportspersons at national level competitions has also been far from satisfactory.
The reasons for the sad state of affairs is not one but many. At the top of it all is the lack of government funding. There have been very few or no talent hunt programmes to spot young talent in its nascent stages. The few sportspersons who did manage to make a name for themselves attribute their success largely to their own efforts and not to those on the part of the government.
Another major cause is too much politicisation of sports. There is favouritism in the selection process at all levels, which results in deserving candidates having to sit out and a spate of poor performances at the international competitions.
The lack of infrastructure is also a cause of concern. While we have managed to build huge stadiums for certain events in the big cities, the small cities and sportspersons from the lesser known places have been starving for even the basic training facilities. The lack of commitment and unprofessional attitude on the part of the sportsmen in another major roadblock. Though the country is not short on talent, it is very rare that a person performs well consistently on the international circuit. Just a medal here and there will not do. What we need is a series of good showings from the athletes to encourage more and more youngsters to take up sports as a career.
A look at the grass root level can reveal the problem. Parents do not encourage their children to play or take up sports as a career as it is not considered to be a safe option. The emphasis is always on studies even if it is at the expense of sports and results in the untimely fall of a budding talent.
Though, it is a fact that we have been lagging far behind some of the other nations in the field of sports but we have had sportsmen like Viswanathan Anand and Leander Paes who have proved that there is no dearth of talent.
The need of the hour is to create awareness about sports and encourage our sportspersons by extending them our whole hearted support. Better sporting infrastructure and transparency in the selection process will ensure that only deserving candidates get through.
The upcoming Commonwealth Games 2010 in Delhi will be a major test for our sportsmen as well as the organisers. A good showing will not only prove to the world our capability of hosting a major sporting event but also stake our claim as a force to be reckoned with.
