ARE THE CINDERELLA SPORTS READY FOR THE BALL?

 

 

As a World Cup dream is washed away and a frenzied post-mortem ensues, it should not surprise the discerning fan that we lost, again! Indians, in part, due to history, and in part, due to culture, are ill-equipped to dominate the field of team sports, and hoping for international glory in this arena would be like chasing a chimera. Maybe its time we shifted our focus toward sports where we actually have a hope in hell to achieve a semblance of success unlike the team arena where the wooden spoon has ‘India’ carved on it even before most competitions begin.

A quick look back at history exposes our individualist, fractious and disjointed effort at ‘team’ effort and strategy. Remember the revolt of 1857 – it was doomed to failure before it began because of divergent goals and infighting. We, as a nation, have always been riding on the back of individual brilliance. Whether it’s a Ramayana or a Mahabharata, a 150-year-long freedom struggle or tiny victories between Rajput kingdoms, most achievements have been inspired and executed by individuals of extraordinary abilities. A bunch of ordinary people coming together to achieve something quite extraordinary is just not up our genetic, social, cultural or spiritual alley. Historically, the country was at all points of time at war with itself, village fighting village, province fighting province. So, we may have stories of solo valour and bravery but none of clever strategy or collective achievement. And when it comes to the field of sports, you don’t need to seek too far to find the similarities. Sure, we dominated hockey on the Olympic stage when it was played on grass. But with the introduction and popularity of astro-turf which placed more emphasis on collective commitment and strategy, instead of the individual wizardry that a Dhyan Chand possessed, India’s hockey legacy shrunk in no time. The fact that we have just one hockey World Cup (a tournament born in the turf era) to our name is enough to validate that. We have never been in the reckoning in football and even cricket has essentially been driven by solos on extra adrenalin and talent. In the 70s a certain Sunil Manohar Gavaskar’s exploits kept us afloat, in the 80s the talisman was Kapil Dev Nikhanj and from then on (much as you may dispute this!) Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Even, the World Cup victory in 1983 – the chanciest campaign in the history of the World Cup – was as much by accident as it was by design. After this little jog through memory lane, should one still be wondering why we have been knocked out of the World Cup? Pullela Gopichand, former All England Open badminton champion, however believes there is reason for hope. “There is no dearth of talent in India. As India has no one race and each race is differently built, the real test lies in tapping the talent … (However) it’s just a matter of one good achiever in those sports and the scope of money involved that might attract the people,” he told TSI. Maybe he has a point there. One that former Indian Davis Cup captain Jaideep Mukherjee seconds, “Cricket is a game with mass appeal and it manages to engross the whole nation. Unfortunately in tennis, barring a few names there is nothing worth talking about. There (still) is a big void. Maybe with a few more good sportsmen . . . the shift to games like tennis and golf might come about,” he told TSI. But all said and done it brings us back to the same question: What is it that keeps us from doing well in team events? Are we culturally wired only to be able to excel individually? There’s the example of Arjuna who was outstanding with his archery but not exactly an inspirational leader or quite an astute team player. No wonder our national sporting award bears his name!

It would seem now, that with economic growth and spread of prosperity, the rich man’s singular sporting obsessions – golf, formula racing, cue sports like billiards and shooting are becoming viable career options. Of course not everyone shares the same bright outlook. “Individual sports like F1 are niche and cater to a limited audience (15-45 year olds). Indians are capable of participating in such sports but the only problems are sponsorships. Just take a look at Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandok. They are still struggling. India is addicted to crick et because it is easily accessible here,” says R.K. ‘Tutu’ Dhawan, auto analyst and Regional Director of the Motor Sports Club of India, to TSI. But as a country, we have to start taking a long hard look at nurturing these sports if we want to avoid the inevitable heartburn of being labelled a nation of losers and under achievers when it comes to sports of a collective kind. Golf, for instance, with it’s ‘hindu pace’ holds out a lot of hope and along with Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa, there is the example of the little celebrated Jeev Milkha Singh, the best golfer in Asia and amongst the best in the world. Says Naman Dawar, a golfer on the PGTI circuit, “The shift from cricket to golf is definitely occuring (with) golf becoming more accessible. Delhi has its own public golf course, where anyone can go and rent golf clubs and play for less than Rs 100.” And although most of India might still not be able to spell Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore correctly, he, along with Jaspal Rana, has placed India firmly on the northern reaches of the world shooting map.

India definitely has what it takes to be a force in these sports. The question is, are we ready to jettison our obsession for the ‘men in blue’ (whether it’s an overkill of love or hate) and back the Cinderella champs unequivocally? Is it time to look beyond cricket? Maybe it is, maybe not yet. But this is as good a time as any to start!