Ganguly to head CAB’s cricket development panel

We are zero in Olympics, zero in football, now struggling in hockey, even we are no good in cricket going by the attention it is getting in terms of media, sponsorship, even the population playing cricket in India is definitely bigger than the population of Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand combined. If we are not able to play a game like cricket, then we are not at all fit to play any other field games, especially football at world level which requires enormous amount of stamina, speed and fitness. In these attributes cricketers are nowhere. In a game like cricket only, we can match West Indies , Australia, South Africa etc. because cricket is more of a game of technique and timing. If Inzamum- al- Haq and Ramesh Powar can be world champions in cricket then one can understand what all is required to play cricket. In cricket you do not have to rub shoulders. If you cannot run, stand at the slip, if you cannot bowl fast, go for spin. We have won maximum matches when spinners like Bhajji and Kumble have clicked. It is basically a game of Tom, Dick and Harry.

Everyone can play little bit of cricket, this is the reason old netas , film actors and actresses sometimes are seen playing cricket. This is not with football or hockey, you have to have stamina, speed and fitness and running. In hockey today if we are loosing, it is because of the stamina and fitness where it is difficult to match with European countries, as today it has become totally a power play. In athletics we have to match sportsmen like Carl Lewis, in football we have to match the majestic, wizard, skill and power of the people like Pele, Maradona, Zidane, Becham, Ronaldino, Connavaro, Roberto Carlos etc, almost all footballers are the same. Cricketers stand nowhere to them. Hats off to Indian giants like Milka Singh, P.T Usha, Anju George etc.they have achieved in the field at world level, where it is really difficult to beat Americans and Europeans,in a tough discipline. I have grown seeing the great hockey players especially from Punjab of yesteryears who really looked majestic as far as fitness is concerned .It is the liking and the attitude of ours as to whom we consider heros and gods. Today when I see the cricketers they simply appear like smart boys with fancy hair and sun glasses being readied in the cricket field, for launching in for some advertisement, neither they have running, nor the fitness of sportsman, as in games like football or hockey. Even the umpires look humpty - dumpty, but for one thing we should credit them, is for standing hours and hours. Since cricket is a game, easy to play, involving little stamina and fitness and basically it is a game of timing and technique not much to run, this is the reason cricket evokes interest amongst the people in India . It is a very democratic game every body can participate. This is not so in the games like football, hockey or any other field games. Today one cannot think of becoming Milka Singh, Maradona, Becham, Ronaldo, Ronaldino because it is very- very difficult

The media is selling cricket because they are also from the same chip. Today, be it electronic media, print media and all channels are highlighting cricket. Even if you loose 20 matches and win one and see the other morning, cricket will hog the limelight, as if they have conquered the world. Today everything starts and ends with cricket. The discussions on cricket are maximum, even more than the discussion on any govt. policy. Advertisments of multinational pick up cricketers because they know that it sells in India . If Adidas and Samung sells Becham in Europe , in India it sells Tendulkar. .It is argued that other games do not get sponsorship because of non- performance. True, but one should know that to perform in other fields like track and field, football and hockey it is very- very tough. Ask Dhoni who has played football what it needs, and if ever he continued playing football where he would have landed. One should not forget in other fields there are people like Carl Lewis, in football there are players who are like bomb shells and to match them one can understand what ingredients are needed. This is not so in cricket. You can have answer to Glen Mcgrath’s and Brett Lee’s pace and swing, with the spin of Kumble, Bhajji, Powar etc. Cricket is a rage in India , Pakistan , Sri Lanka and Bangladesh because this the only game they can play in the small world of cricket and by winning once in a blue moon against Australians and South Africans, presume to be the world champions. Other field games need enormous dedication, apart from stamina, fitness, skill and speed. Cricket is the only game where even after 30’s you are capable of making records which can never be possible in any field games. By this age players fade away in other games.

This is not so in cricket, it is game of timing and technique and limit is the boundary line, not shoulder to shoulder. It is not at all the match of stamina, fitness and speed otherwise in these areas, wonder what would happen to the current Indian squad with Australians and South Africans. It is up to us, whom we make celebrity, it the attitude and taste of the people. In fact the sports culture in India is gone. Gone are the days when youths were seen jogging in shorts, playing sweating games like football and hockey and taking up athletics. Today the sportsperson are seen loitering in the field in full pants and sleepers. They look frail and fat, never appear like sportsmen. Every Indian home can aspire for his kid to become a cricketer by seeing the Indian cricketers, who in every way resemble them, this is a wise thought, rather than dreaming of becoming footballers like Maradona, Roberto Carlos, Becham, Zidane etc who in no way are identifiable from the Indian crowed. There has to be an attitude, if facility and infrastructure are the only inputs to produce good sportsmen then Indians would have played soccer, in Soccer mad Europe, as there is no dearth of facility and even good remuneration. Instead, one finds that Indians there also play cricket. England squad is never complete without Indians.
Today Modi Circus is on and also there has been proposal to serve liquor in stadium. It is a matter of introspection whether IPL is business bazar or is it doing something good for the propagation of sports in India. I think everyone who has never ever thought about sports in their life time have also jumped in, for sake of making big and easy buck. Will such India bring medals in Olympics? Will it ever win FIFA cup? Will it ever think of winning another world Cup in Hockey? It is the attitude, if you have to make your presence felt win at the world level as China, Japan and Korea has shown. Super powers make its presence felt at world level at every arena, be it economy or in games by winning Olympics medals.
Jacob