Some days ago Dola Banerjee won gold at an archery world event. The newspapers celebrated her victory cheerfully and she was received by the homeland with much joy and excitement. But peculiarly enough, it was the first time most of us even heard of her. Something similar happened with Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who won us the sole medal at the 2004 Olympics. These, more or less summarize the plight of sports other than cricket in India.
The above examples contradict the popular contention that these sports are neglected because the players don't perform well at the international level. Of course there are many reasons specific to different sports; but ultimately, it's the lack of investment in these sports that's responsible mostly for their decline. Money remains to be the driving force in anything in today's world; and that's where these sports suffer. Cricket, because of it's huge popularity gets a great media coverage in India. BCCI and the regional cricket boards get richer and richer. They bring forth the infrastructure that's so deficient in other sports. Also, because of the lucrative prospects involved, and the publicity cricketers get, children are encouraged to play cricket. Clubs and coaching centres sprout all around because of an increasing demand. Young cricketers come forth and cricket maintains its popularity despite occasional poor performances by the national squad.
More or less the reverse happens in most other sports and they take a backseat. Lack of money leads to lack of infrastructure and training facility for players. Media either doesn't cover them at all or cover in a lukewarm manner. As a result, they become less popular and still less people try them. It's a vicious circle.
The involvement of politics naturally has had a negative effect. Constant bickering among factions often take an ugly look and make these sports suffer terribly. The ill-will between Dalmia and Pawar isn't sufficient to destroy cricket because of the latter's overwhelming popularity. But in athletics, boxing or table tennis, the administrators' politics make bodily blows to the sports and players. Without any significant media coverage, bad blood flows unchecked and severely dampens development.
The above examples contradict the popular contention that these sports are neglected because the players don't perform well at the international level. Of course there are many reasons specific to different sports; but ultimately, it's the lack of investment in these sports that's responsible mostly for their decline. Money remains to be the driving force in anything in today's world; and that's where these sports suffer. Cricket, because of it's huge popularity gets a great media coverage in India. BCCI and the regional cricket boards get richer and richer. They bring forth the infrastructure that's so deficient in other sports. Also, because of the lucrative prospects involved, and the publicity cricketers get, children are encouraged to play cricket. Clubs and coaching centres sprout all around because of an increasing demand. Young cricketers come forth and cricket maintains its popularity despite occasional poor performances by the national squad.
More or less the reverse happens in most other sports and they take a backseat. Lack of money leads to lack of infrastructure and training facility for players. Media either doesn't cover them at all or cover in a lukewarm manner. As a result, they become less popular and still less people try them. It's a vicious circle.
The involvement of politics naturally has had a negative effect. Constant bickering among factions often take an ugly look and make these sports suffer terribly. The ill-will between Dalmia and Pawar isn't sufficient to destroy cricket because of the latter's overwhelming popularity. But in athletics, boxing or table tennis, the administrators' politics make bodily blows to the sports and players. Without any significant media coverage, bad blood flows unchecked and severely dampens development.
2 comments:
thanks for a very good article
very good article ..... I like it
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