Search the Internet          Tips  Sites: Finance, Investment

Can India excel in sports?

T Thomas

About 30 years ago, when I was on a business visit to Srinagar where an international sporting event was taking place, Sheikh Abdullah told me: "Why can't we, Indians, produce a single winner out of our several hundred million people?" That question has haunted me ever since.

Today we have a billion people but we are still barren. Even tiny countries of Africa (Uganda, Kenya, Senegal), Asia (Sri Lanka) and Latin America (Ecuador, Paraguay) seem ahead of us.

Our national game in the early 20th century was hockey but we neglected to train our players on modern turf. That's how we lost ground. Football has been played with great passion for more than 100 years in states like West Bengal and Kerala. Yet we have never been able to put together 11 Indians to win matches even in Asia.

Today, the most popular and financially rewarding game in India is cricket. Our cricketers vie with cinema stars for glory. Yet in world ranking, we are now in the 8th place, just above Bangladesh! Even Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka have overtaken us!

I have sought an answer to this paradox from various people who put forward the following possible explanations:

• Sports and games are largely financed and administered by government authorities. This leads to divisive political interference and merit ceases to be the main criterion;
• The government does not spare enough financial resources to promote and encourage sports and games;
• Indian schools and universities do not have adequate facilities for sports and games;
• Our society is ridden with communal, caste and class divisions which override meritocracy;
• Then there is the problem of parochialism. Cricket was dominated for a number of decades by Maharashtra. Later, Gujarat, Karnataka, Punjab and Tamil Nadu came into the picture. Now the power centre is the presidentship of BCCI;
• Another view is that Indians lack team spirit (nevertheless we hardly excel even as individuals except in chess!);
• It is doubtful whether Indians have the stamina and the nutrition required for sports and games (but we have such a diverse genetic base that we do not need any genetic modification!);
• Do Indians lack the killer instinct? (Judging by the number of protests and disruptions in India, we do not seem to lack aggression!);
• India had isolated itself from the rest of the world for the last 50 years by not allowing foreign coaches or players to come in;
• We idolise our sports heroes so much and so prematurely that they become complacent and perform inconsistently and finally decline;

I have come to the conclusion that more important than identifying the causes of our non-performance is assessing the following: (a) Whether it matters for India to excel in sports, and (b) if so, what can be done about it?

Excelling in sports and games is a clear index of a nation's self-confidence and sense of achievement. One had only to see the recent celebrations in Senegal and Korea to realise this. Success in business or academics by Indians is appreciated and shared only by the educated and affluent Indians. But success in football, hockey or cricket is appreciated and shared even by the poorest.

Secondly, success in sports creates nationalistic emotions stronger than rational arguments! It unifies the country more than any other activity. When the Indian team is playing a cricket match, we do not think of the players as Punjabis or Tamilians or Muslims.

We do need more of such strong unifying events to keep our subcontinent together. Therefore, it is essential for us to succeed in sports.

Sports in India today are like a near bankrupt business enterprise that needs to be turned around. Perhaps the following principles of business should be applied.

The government has to be largely kept out of sports as indeed from business. At the same time, the government has a supportive and promotional role as in other countries. But for the government to play this role, we need a minister of sports who has knowledge and experience in sports.

Why not invite someone like Sunil Gavaskar or Kapil Dev to be minister of sports (instead of people like Uma Bharati) and get him elected to Rajya Sabha as an all-party candidate?

Such a person will understand the issues, and have a feel for sportsmen. As he will not have to depend on the government job or position, he can be objective.

To avoid the problems associated with government (viz corruption, regional and communal politics), the private corporate sector should be encouraged to take up development of sports. For instance, corporates can be given tax incentives for expenditure on sports as in the case of R&D expense. The quality of sports expenses can be assessed by an independent body of sports professionals. This will encourage corporates to invest in sports. They can earn profits and publicity.

• It may be advisable to focus on few sporting activities like cricket, hockey, football, and long-distance running (with the participation of people from hilly regions). We can then gradually extend the effort to other sports and games.
• Independent sports clubs should be encouraged to become business entities. Such clubs should be allowed to issue shares to raise capital for the promotion of games and be given tax incentives.
• Once sports become attractive as a business proposition, professional business practices can be introduced: (i) Identification of talent at an early age and encouraging it, (ii) development of promising youngsters at different levels, (iii) attractive remuneration, bonus, retirement benefits and transfer fees for outstanding sports personalities, thereby making sports an attractive career, (iv) engagement of coaches and players from abroad.

The success of Japan and Korea in football was entirely due to their foreign coaches and we should not be ashamed of accessing the best coaches in the world, (v) arrangements for Indian players to play in other countries. Senegal's success in football is because there are several Senegalese playing in the French football league.

Brazilians play in Spanish and Portuguese leagues so that they come to know more about European football. Very few Indian test cricketers play English county cricket. One of the primary weaknesses of Indian cricket is our batsmen's vulnerability before pace bowling. We do not have serious pace bowlers in India and therefore our batsmen are not exposed to pace.

We must sponsor our batsmen and bowlers to play in Australia and the West Indies where they will face world-class pace and spin, (vi) having highly skilled dietitians in our teams.

Since the Indian diets are diverse and a large number of people are vegetarians, it is important to create an appropriate diet. Most our cricketers never seem to be as agile and energetic as the Australians or even the relaxed English!

To put the importance of success in sports in perspective, the rest of the world and most Indians do not care or even know who the next President of India will be!

But if India succeeds even in few sports and games, all will take note. It will be the best publicity for India and also an inspiration and a source of pride. Do we have to wait for another World Cup or Olympics before we act?

Powered by

ALSO READ:
More Specials
The Rediff Budget Special
Money