Thursday, May 7, 2009

Cricket -India's Curse

Even before writing a single word of this post ,I know that I will be receiving lots of brickbats than bouquets for this post.But I would like to put forth my views on this subject inspite of having cricket obsessed members in our family.
Olympics,a global ceremony which occurs once in four years has always displeased Indians with its horrific Medal Tally which shows India in a poor ranking position.A country of more than 100 crores people just fetch a medal or two.After all the Athletes bashing and discussions our News media go to hyberanation and wake up after four years to again bash up our coaches,sports persons,facilities etc.All the other time they are more interested in discussing cricket,cricket player's love affairs,their liasons and what not.Even burps and farts of Cricketers become Breaking News in India.Indians love such information about their beloved cricketers.
Cricket which is treated as a money minting machine in India has already started to be a lucrative business for Politicians and Cine stars.
IPL is the vulgar display of this cash rich cricketing associations and related persons.IPL has literally turned cricket into a business.Players nowadays get crores and crores for this willowing game and cricket frenzy nation is wallowing in the hot dust to watch this disgusting display of wealth.
Just compare the situation in which some Hockey team players had to stay in Railway yards and they had to take bath with the pipe fitted near Rails(This was shown in NDTV few years back) and our posh cricketers are immersed in richness,stay in five star hotels etc.
How can we demand medals from them after we have treated the players of other sports in such a nasty manner.
Abhinav Bindra could get gold medal because his father could arrange a AC shooting field and a german coach for his son to practice.what about others who dont have money?
Why discuss about National level,Look at the grassroot level of Indian sports.
Archery ground where my son was practicing is in a horrible condition.I had to just watch helplessly the sportspersons who were practicing fencing,basket ball with minimum facilities .If that is the situation in a city like pune which has lots of enthusiasts for alternate sports,then imagine the plight in other cities!
Here I would like to appreciate the steps taken by L.N Mittal's Trust and Prakash Padukone's Gold Quest trust which has brought some talented sports persons to limelight.
But why cricketers are not interested in supporting other sports?Why dont they spend a percent of their crores in developing alternate sports in our country.Why politicians show least interest in other sports?Why our Bollywood stars are not sponsoring talented sports persons of other fields and provide them with good facilities?I think they don't find any reaping prospects or rich dividends in those fields.
One more chunk to blame is our cricket maniac Indians who just celebrate cricket like mad people.Our Indians don't have any respect for other sports.Did they watch the olympic games with the same interest with which they are watching the silly cheer girls of IPL?DD was telecasting olympics and the TRP ratings were not even equal to a so-so serial.Such is the support we are giving to other sports.
Only advice which I would like to give our Indians is,If you are more obsessed in this money minting game and not interested in other sports, then just shut up and watch the pathetic medals tally of India because you dont have any right to comment on our hard working sports persons who sweat more than our Crorepathi cricketers.When you have not given them anything ,dont expect anything from them!Not even peanuts!
CU in next post ,Cinema-India's Curse!

23 comments:

Raja said...

Padma..
I knew this post was coming from you ..it was just a matter of time. This post would surely qualify as a newspaper article..suggest you send this to a newspaper or magazine..

I totally sympathize for the Olympians from India. Few years back even cricket was not popular.. remember Dhoni's house was stoned after 2007 world cup 1st round exit? but was crowned as a king just few months after for the T20 win. ..Cricketers go through a high risk business.."perform or perish"

I feel cricket should exist the way it is..of course with less commercialization..the key is India should find a way to make cricket co-exist with other sporting activities too..may be take a leaf out of China's book.

Padma said...

Thank u Raja for ur suggestion:-)
Even with such high stakes our cricketers sometimes let us down.after 1983,1984 Name a major tournament which we have won...

Raja said...

.. by the way you are a shrewd blogger..
You have found a way to attract readers to your blog even during the middle of a busy IPL season!

Ravishankar said...

Cricket - India s curse
For few people - It is Purse.
It is a shadow of British legacy
It was treated like any other sport till 1980 s.
Then commercial and other activity started.
BCCI is richer than ICCI.
Now politicians are fighting for the top post of BCCI which is highly cash rich.
TV rights of matches can fetch few hundred crores.
When recently Mysore sport complex invited for summer sports camp for boys and girls, more than 50% of them opted for Cricket. Then I decided to send Sanjeev for Batmiton.

Padma said...

Raja!Thank u for conferring me the title "Shrewd Blogger"..In fact im waiting for rajendra,kumar and SVK to throw stones ..err....shoes at me for writing this post..;-))

Padma said...

Ravi! Good!Ur comment has started in a T.rajendar style with rhyming words.:-)))
but it is surprising that sanjeev has selected badminton inspite of being a good,aggressive bowler:-)))
I was waiting for the day when sanjeev would remove his T shirt and swirl it around him like ganguly after winning a match ;-))

RAMKI said...

padma cricket has bcom buisiness only in recent times.in 1960 we used to go to chennai to watch test matches. no bandas in those days. even in those days lot of crowd to watch test matches. it will b like picnic for madras people. they used to pack food etc and sit in groups of 50 t0 100 from each area. there will b fights between groups dance songs etc.now i cannot imagine sanjeev without cricket. it is as usual ravi is doing in opp direction

Nandakumar said...

I agree with u that other sports also should get patronage.
But cricket has its charm, bcos of the composition of the game.Even though it is also a team game individual performances play a vital role.That is how cricket ikons becum stars.
It was popular even b4 advent of T.V
In 1960 s I hv seen Ranji matches at Salem L.F.H.School.
I can put many reasons y Cricket is popular n others r not popular.
It might b a big analysis.
I will do it once IPL is over!
I respect the feelings of U.Good blog.But I continue to be a cricket veriyan.

Padma said...

Appa!thank u for ur comments!ur last line was very interesting that ravi always goes in opp.direction:-))hope ravi reads this comment..but ur generation has to be blamed for fuelling cricket madness in India:-(((

Padma said...

Thank u kumar chittappa for ur comments.But Im upset that u ll continue with ur cricket veri even after reading my post :-)))t is bcos of the overwhelming support ckt is getting ,other sports r overshadowed and they dont get enough sponsors.As raja said We can follow which China's example which I am not aware of :-))) and I would like raja to clarify it in this post.

Raja said...

Padma..
I was just referring to China's success in Olympics in the last decade or so..They have a dedicated development program specifically targeted to bag Olympics Golds! (Something on the lines of 100 golds!)
But to think of India's chances in Olympic games..I think people in Indian subcontinent (except Sikhs) are not genetically athletic enough to compete with the likes of Chinese, Americans, and Africans. Since the athletic demand for playing cricket is much less than other sports and games, Indians seem to have found a perfect sport in Cricket and the passion to go along with it. I am not taking away the skills of a cricketer, but we all know Cricket is not as demanding as a track and field, soccer, or basketball. Even with good infrastructure, I doubt if we will ever be able to match the likes of other races in Olympic sports. Sad but thats the fact..we have to swallow the bitter pill and accept it..Of course, we can focus on achieving better in Archery, Shooting, and other Olympic events which are less demanding..Just my thoughts...open to see others perspective here..

Padma said...

raja!i accept that our race lacks some important qualities reqd for a sports person..but wer not providing them enough facilities,sponsors etc

Prasanna's Pen Speaks ... said...

good post padma...

Rajendra said...

Hi guys,
Well, Sports drives me crazy. I can forget, hunger, thirst, everything if I am on the ground. I play (used to) basketball, am along distance runner & played lot of TT & badminton.. I must say Cricket has its own charm. How can I forget the Cheetah Cricket Club of Saibaba Colony. The match against the next street etc. The thrills. I can remember not having slept the whole night before the match because of tremendous pressure of performance... Regarding commercialisation of Cricket. Whats the problem man.. whoes problem is it, the cricketeers?politicians, cine stars? None I guess.. You are just jealous that someone is making money. Is the money being stolen, forcefully taken? Then? Its all by choice. My father keeps brickbatting the crikteers, but right now he is sitting before the TV- cheering the cheerleaders ;-)Nobody is to blame.
The BCCI earnings should be taxed heavily & the tax should go for development of other sports.
Regarding the race, well Premchand Dogra was Mr.World in Body Building. We have won medals in boxing & wrestling...
In my opinion, the issue is that one cannot earn bread with sports in India... The day this happens floodgates of medals for India will open. There are lakhs of Indians with talent, just assure them a decent living & see what they can do for the country...
May cricket bring in more money to help other sports .... Jai Ho!!

Prasanna's Pen Speaks ... said...

padma... very nice post...I agree with Ravi.... cricket has become good money making machine for sponsors... especially T20 matches... In my opinion they are not matches... they are fashion shows... in every nook and corner of the ground and even in dresses, shoes ,caps and all other dirty things we can find sponsor names...within fewdays we can find some salon name on Dhoni's hair and some fairness cram name on Ganguly's face...we can also expect two overs match relay on tv for the whole evening... and our people may wach it with grt interest in the midst of advertisements....keep blogging..

Padma said...

hi rajendra!thanks for reading my blog!
i know ur obsession abt sports.u ve told that u can forget hunger,thirst etc.why did u miss an important thing..u can forget ur wife also :-))) by seeing ur comments i feel that u ve gained confidence...naan oorlle illenra dhairiyam ;-)))good...janakraj!keep commenting!

Padma said...

hi prasanna!welcome to blogging after ur eventful hybernation.:-)))
aprum namma rendu berum ellorayum vilaasalaam..when r u going to release ur post!waiting for u:-))

Unknown said...

Our kids think sixer is a 'DLF maximum' & a wicket taken is a 'citi moment of success'. LOL

Raja said...

As much as I am enjoying IPL, I totally detest the quality of commentary ..it is nothing short of licking the sponsors boots ..agreed they are sponsoring the event..but commentary should be for cricket and not the sponsors ..
Sometimes these IPL commentators go way overboard ..in fact in one of the games, when Kolkata players were dropping catches back to back..the commentator mistakenly uttered ..'Citi moment of disaster' ..how appropriate that is though considering the state of Citibank now!

Padma said...

raja!i dont watch IPL as a protest:-))),so i dont know how they do the commentary.:-))but anyway IPL is not worth calling ckt.it is just a koothaatam.

Padma said...

kothai
thank u for ur comments.i dont watch IPL so i dont know abt details of sponsors.:-)))but all these show the deteriorating level of ckt.

Anonymous said...

padma my appreciation for a good presentation.
let me categorise, one is cricket sport and another is commercialisation.
like any other sport cricket has its own technique , mental toughness and needs hard energy. since i have played cricket i know how tough it is to bowl and play in the scorching sun. only hard lovers of the game watch test cricket and wait for five days for the result, still a player will love to play in test match where he can show his full talent whereas oneday and t20 is like fast food and it is a day's game. but in the recent, people like, t20 or one day because it is electrifying and thrill. the game has to change according to the modern trend . so if you r a lover of game watch test cricket and if you want excitement watch t20.
regarding the hype, commercialisation or politicians the game has nothing to do with it.whenever something is getting popular the media or commercials go after it. when bindra, saina , and boxers won olympic medals they were in ads. has india done well in any other sport constantly. how many laurels other sportspersons have brought to our country. leave this commercials they will even run after a dog .
i think u are not much follower of cricket. why blame ipl . see how the players perform have u ever seen kumble diving in fielding here he does they give 100 percent. don't see the cheer girls they are just fun. see with what intensity it is played .
but i am a lover of sports and in school days most of the time i played football, i played shuttle with rajendra, i play tt, so each sport has its own technique. but we the subcontinents cannot excel in athletics and field events because of our genetics.
but in olden days cricket was played only in cities but now we can see even villagers play cricket thanks to tv. this has brought to the fore cricketers even from poor village. so many examples are there. cricket is team sport if one has a bat and ball another ten can join with him.
so enjoy the game and how they play forget what is happening behind.

Padma said...

hi SVK,
thank u for commenting under anonymous option.;-)))i knew that u will not like my cricket bashing...actually it is not ckt bashing..i m against commercialization of any game...i dont have much knowledge abt the game but i hate their approach mmm...what to do? truth is always bitter..