Cricket is waiting to lose its glamour

Back to back matches and modeling is wreaking havoc on the Indian cricket. The loser is not the players and the board. But the spectators. Who will watch the losers for ever? It is atrocious on the part of the players to play matches continuously without adequate rest. Along with this serial matches the players spend the little rest time in modeling and other money earning activities. With these handicaps they cannot win even simple matches in the coming days. Before the spectators and supporters desert the cricket the board and players should realise their mistakes and come to the decent playing form.

The Times of India writes (11th Novemeber 2009)


Ricky Ponting has put the ODI series win against India up there with Australia's World Cup and Champions Trophy victories. While the Australian captain might be indulging in a bit of hyperbole, he has every right to be very pleased. The series was a match-up between the two top teams in the world, and Australia emerged victor handily. The remarkable thing was that Australia did so with their second string, so badly was the team hit by injuries. Many of the frontline players, such as Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin and Brett Lee, were either missing for the India tour or had to leave midway. But in spite of the injuries, the Aussies put it across an Indian team that was full strength, barring a player or two.

This once again confirms the number one position of the Australian team, though they might not be invincible any more. After losing a close Test series against England earlier this year, the Australians blanked out England in the ODI games, won the Champions Trophy and have now beaten India at home. This is clear evidence of Australia's supremacy in the 50-over format. But what it demonstrates tellingly is the bench strength of the Aussies, and how well their domestic cricketing structure serves their national team. It is difficult to imagine India doing well in the circumstances that Australia faced.

The Indian team has been left with plenty to ponder about. Except for the match at Guwahati, all the games were close. Indeed, Ponting has admitted that India probably had the edge in three of the four games that they lost. But in what is an old failing the Indians failed to hold their nerve to win the close matches. This was spectacularly shown up in the Hyderabad game where Sachin Tendulkar had set up what would have been an incredible victory chasing a massive target of 350 runs. But the Indian team stuttered at the end. The other factor in Australia's favour was their tigerish fielding which can often be the deciding element in close finishes. The Indian team still cannot match the fielding intensity of teams like Australia.

As the Indians get ready to face Sri Lanka in a potentially tough Test and ODI series, they would do well to regain the consistency and the winning mentality that have been the hallmark of M S Dhoni's captaincy.

Sports Ministry doing everything except sports promotion

Our honorable sports ministers are champions of all causes except sports. Union sports minister is generous to block Rs.200 crores Formula One racing track because we are not mass racers! One Karthikeyan is not enough for him!

The Indian government has, once again, come up with very old-fashioned views on matters relating to sport and tourism. In a letter written by the
Union ministry of sports to JPSK Sports, the promoter of Formula 1 racing in the country early, the ministry rejected the promoter's request to get approval for remittances of $36.5 million to host an F1 race in the country on the ground that it wasn't a sport. This has been supported by the argument that it has entertainment value and therefore amounts to a commercial initiative. Motorsports fans and bodies around the world have been left flummoxed by the government's views, especially in light of the previous support offered by the ministry to motorsports in the country.


To say that a sport is not one because it provides entertainment is ludicrous. Every sport, if it wishes to be popular, needs to be entertaining. The truly boring ones, like curling and croquet, are hardly sports with massive worldwide television audiences. India's favourite sport, cricket, is constantly changing and shortening its format to remain entertaining and to draw in viewers. If sport is a test of human endurance, then Formula 1 undoubtedly qualifies. Anybody who has seen Formula 1 racing drivers step out of their cars after a race cannot doubt their physical fitness or the abuse to which they subject their bodies. Man and machine work in harmony to push body and car to the limit and beyond and, yet, come away unharmed. It is as much a spectacle, if not more so, than a six hit out of the park. Moreover, technology has become a part of most sports today. Without the right cricketing or tennis gear, even the best player could lose.


As for the argument that hosting an F1 race will do little to encourage local participation in sports, who knows? Already, India's interest in F1 has increased since an Indian first competed in F1. The boost that motorsports in the country would receive if it hosted the world's premier auto racing competition would be huge.

Uncommon Politics in Common Wealth Game in 2010

Politics played a dirty role on the run up to the Common Wealth games in Delhi in 2010. Due to the back stabbing and upfront assault by her own party men and women Sheila Dikshit is facing an uphill task in hosting the common wealth games.

The Times of India writes (2 August 2009)

With about 13 months left for the 2010 Commonwealth Games to begin in Delhi, there is a real danger that several projects associated with the
Games might not be completed on time. A Comptroller and Auditor General report submitted to the Prime Minister's Office and sports ministry has confirmed our worst suspicions. Work on 13 of the 19 sports venues is behind schedule with the aquatics complex and the hockey stadium in the worst shape. What is particularly galling is that the design for the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium - the main venue of the Games - is yet to be finalised. All 16 major infrastructure projects for the city are behind schedule, with the public works department admitting that six, including flyovers and road tunnels, won't be completed on time.


The situation is as bad as it can get. It once again shows up our inability to plan and execute major projects on time even when the deadline is known years in advance. The authorities will surely scramble and finish work on the sports venues before the Games begin. But projects completed at breakneck speed are very likely to develop all sorts of problems later. Besides, the Games are not just about building sports venues. Nowadays, major sports events are used to overhaul the infrastructure of the host city, showcase it to the rest of the world and reap the benefits for years afterward.


Look at what the Olympic Games did for Beijing. The Chinese government pumped in $40 billion to develop Beijing, building new highways, a vast subway network, the world's biggest airport terminal and a showpiece stadium. Similarly, England is using the 2012 Olympics to give London a makeover and revive entire neighbourhoods. Even if India can't match China's scale and ambition, the Commonwealth Games should at least be used to improve Delhi's crumbling infrastructure and put it on par with other world cities.


This has been done before. The 1982 Asian Games in Delhi was a good example of a major sporting event triggering a makeover. The Asiad changed the face of Delhi. Many of the city's flyovers and roads are a legacy of the Games. The Commonwealth Games present a similar opportunity. It's a pity that urban development has to wait for major sporting events. But if that helps in beefing up infrastructure and improving the lives of people, so be it. Delhi has ambitions of hosting the Olympics in future. But if India slips up in its preparations for the Commonwealth Games, it's unlikely that any global sporting event will come our way soon.