So Close Yet So Far

The fact that India hasn’t won a single medal in Rio so far showcases a failed system that finds itself mired in babudom and officials who treat the Olympics only as a quadrennial junket for themselves.

A tiny fraction – that is how you would sum up the distance between Indians and a medal at the Rio Olympics so far. Every time a medal prospect took to the field, palpitating citizens would have their hands joined in prayer for their stars to break the elusive deadlock. Their prayers haven’t been answered yet.

Indians were never known to win heavily on the Olympic stage. However, every edition threw up a star which made people realise that the games were in progress. Whether it was Leander Paes in 1996, or Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in 2004 or Abhinav Bindra in 2008, the Indian contingent was always driven by individual performances.

Few of India’s Shining Stars (From L-R): Leander Paes In Atlanta (1996), Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore In Athens (2004) & Abhinav Bindra In Beijing (2008)

Post their most successful games in 2012, where India won six medals, a lot was expected out of this Rio-bound contingent. Never before had an Indian contingent attracted attention to this extent. Apart from the usual shooting and tennis, Indians had medal prospects even in disciplines like Gymnastics, Rowing, as well as Track & Field events. Many came agonizingly close, but the end result was always a heartbreak.

But as always – Indians may not have won medals, they have won plenty of hearts. 23-year old Dipa Karmakar, a native of Agartala, with no proper training facilities, put Gymnastics on the Indian map with a billion Indians praying unanimously for her win. Here was a girl, who made a billion Indians take active interest in watching something like Gymnastics, an event that would find itself in a lowly corner in the pecking order for ‘Sports that Indians love.’ Though she  missed out on a medal by a whisker, she has made Indians sit up and take notice. With age on her side, she only has a brighter future ahead.

India’s Dipa Karmakar performs on the vault during the artistic gymnastics women’s apparatus final at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

There are certain things that never change. Like always, Babudom has failed India yet again. While most Rio-bound athletes flew via economy class, the ‘Caretakers’ of Indian sports chose to fly via business class. Most of them, having no connection to any sport whatsoever, were on a mission to boost the morale of the players. It would be interesting to know the actions that they took to do the same since the IOC threatened to cancel the accreditation of sports minister Vijay Goel.

Claiming credit where its ‘Not’ due – India’s Photo-op Minister Vijay Goel, who assumed Rio to be one of Delhi’s suburbs for his boorish and arrogant behaviour. 

Indians have a habit of discovering talent and not nurturing it which eventually leads to the discovery fading away (ask Irfan Pathan). Every government controlled sports association is currently in shambles. The lack of medals on the Olympic stage only showcases the failure of a system that politicians treat as their personal fiefdom and which thrives on corruption and nepotism.

The Lodha Panel recently recommended sweeping reforms for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which would well go on to end political influence over the board. Similar reforms could also be undertaken in other disciplines as well so as to completely dissociate sports from politics. A simple rule of ‘Those who have never been involved in the sport before, will not be a part of its administration in any capacity’ would go a long way in getting this ailing system back to life.

Whether they return with a medal or not, this Indian contingent will be the most successful of them all. Their performances have made us sit up and take notice and also realize that there are things in this country that are beyond the realms of bat and ball.

From Champion Dance to a Death Knell

The abysmal performance of the home team during the Antigua Test is testimony to how fragile egos have destroyed the game that was once cherished in the island nation.

A second-string West Indies side put up a shoddy performance to lose by an innings and 92 runs in the first test against India

It can’t get worse for a cricketing nation when you field an almost second-string side to face one of the best teams in world cricket for four long tests while your best players are plying their trade a couple of hours away in a domestic T20 tournament. That is what cricket in the Caribbean has come down to.

“Carlos Brathwaite! Remember the name!” an animated Ian Bishop exulted on air after the tall West Indian smashed four sixes in four balls during the World T20 final to give his side an unlikely win. The Women’s team had won their final early in the day and the U-19 side had won their tournament a couple of months ago. The win rounded off a memorable three months for the fans of the game in the islands.

The Beleaguered Lot: Gayle, Bravo, Sammy, Andre Russel; most of which are playing in the domestic T20 tournament but are not picked for test matches 

While we may remember Brathwaite, Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard among others as fantastic T20 players, it is hard to recollect the last time a young West Indian player was mentioned as ‘test match material.’ The great Shivnarine Chanderpaul was possibly the last ‘test legend’ for the Windies before he too was overshadowed by the swashbuckling willows of the ‘smack-bang’ brigade.

The post match speech of Darren Sammy only indicated the bitterness of the players towards their board that failed to acknowledge their players’ heroic efforts. While the T20 win will go down as a wonderful story of a team winning by overcoming all odds, deep down it leaves little to imagine about  the sorry state of affairs in Caribbean cricket.

Strained relations with the board and abject pay-scales for players in international cricket have only forced the above mentioned players to seek refuge in lucrative T20 cricket leagues in different parts of the world. It is particularly disheartening for players like Brathwaite and current captain Jason Holder, who come up the ranks only to ponder over when will be the next time they would play at the international level.

Facing an uncertain future: Young Windies captain Jason Holder. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill)

The West Indies tour to Australia in late 2015 was a testimony to the horror state that test cricket in the Caribbean finds itself in. The visitors were bulldozed in first two tests within three days and were only saved by rain in the final one. Barring a couple of individual performances from Darren Bravo, who also has been as inconsistent as a Pakistani side, none of the batsmen showed the kind of application or temperament that top level test cricket demands from a player. Skipper Jason Holder’s reluctance to accept Steve Smith’s declaration for ‘0’ on the final day of the Sydney test only indicates the low morale of the team and the lack of faith the leader has in his players to chase the target or to bat out a day to save the test match.

The custodians of West Indies cricket find themselves in a peculiar position. Ideally, they should be using such victories to mend fences with disgruntled players but they have nothing to show young budding cricketers when they are taught that nothing is more important than test cricket.

In a heart-breaking press conference in October last year, Sir Garfield Sobers broke down and said “Until we can get people who are willing to play for West Indies in the right way, I think that we’re going to be struggling for a long time.” If tests in the Caribbean are to be revived, this is the opportune time. If not, the champion dance will only hit the death knell for the game in whites in the island nation and the night of brilliance in Kolkata will be conveniently forgotten.

 

 

 

 

 

The Plight of an Indian Sportsperson

Mohammed Shahid’s death is yet another instance of Indian sporting legends not getting their due.

Mohammed Shahid lost his battle to a severe Kidney and Liver Condition this afternoon. The maestro, fondly known as ‘The Dribbler’ was only 56. For many of us, Shahid would be an unknown soul. I would not hesitate to admit that I got to know of him only when the media brought his deteriorating health condition to notice. It was only on reading more about him that I realised the greatness of the man. Part of the Indian team that won their last Olympic Hockey gold in 1980, Shahid was someone who won accolades from his own peers as well as the opposition alike.

Shahid was a part of Three Olympics, winner of the Padma Shri as well as an Arjuna Awardee.

The lack of awareness regarding Shahid as well as another Hockey legend Joe Antic, who passed away earlier this week comes as no surprise in this age where legends are made and forgotten in a jiffy. Not many would know that hockey is India’s national game since Cricket is ‘religion’ for most of us. The fact that stories of Olympians, athletes resorting to do odd jobs to ward off their poverty tells us the way cricket has hogged the limelight from other sports in the country.

Not many would know Devendra Jhajharia – the first paralympian to win the Padma Shri. I was clueless about his existence till Google introduced me to him and his feats. There would be plenty of such Devendras who would work tirelessly overcoming all odds to rise out of nowhere, find their mention in a newspaper snippet and fade into oblivion once again.

Blaming only cricket for the pitiful state of other sports in the country won’t be the best thing to do. The abject neglect of these games from their own administrations is equally responsible for the same. Most such governing bodies are either embroiled in petty politics or corruption scandals or would only exist on paper simply due to the paucity of funds and lack of attention from the government.

There has been a massive outpouring of grief on social media post Mohammed Shahid’s death. Majority of them would have not known of his existence had the media not reported of the same. I would shamelessly admit to joining the twitter bandwagon without watching a single video of the great man. People often complain about India not producing enough global sporting stars. If only the ones produced were nurtured well enough for others to be inspired from them.

Makhan Singh, Sarwan Singh, Murlikant Petkar, Shankar Laxman – the list of Indian sporting legends who never got their due is endless. Such stories are only setting an example of ‘In India, you either are a cricketer or just another sportsperson.’ It’s about time that the administration takes charge of the situation or we would only know of such legends in death or when the media highlights their plight.

Rest In Peace ‘The Dribbler.’ Hope heaven ensures that you get your due.

 

 

 

Misbah: Pakistan’s Meticulous Workman

Defying all odds, criticism & detractors within his own cricketing system, a 42-year young Misbah-ul-Haq did what he does best – rescue his side from trouble.

24^th September, 2007: A 33-year old man, brought out of the wilderness to play for his side was reluctant to leave the field at the Wanderers in Johannesburg after an audacious scoop shot from him led to his side losing a World Cup final by five runs. He got his team precariously close to victory before that adventurous scoop crushed the dream of many back in Pakistan.

A Forlorn Misbah in the background as the Indian team celebrates after winning the World T20 Final. (Pic Courtesy: SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Nine years later, at the Mecca of cricket; after a gentle push towards third-man, he trudged off to the other end in what was his 10^th test century. At 42 years and 47 days, he became the oldest Pakistani to score a test hundred. The helmet came off and a salute to his teammates on the balcony was followed by a series of push-ups indicating that he wasn’t done yet. This might have been Misbah-ul-Haq’s most extravagant celebration of a century in his career. Scoring a century is special, scoring it at 42 is further special, and doing both of the aforementioned at Lord’s is the cherry on the cake.

Misbah salutes his teammates at the Lord’s balcony after scoring his 10th test century.

People list reading, writing, listening to music as some of their hobbies on their CV. For Misbah, his favourite hobby is to rescue his team from trouble. He comes across as the ideal Poor Man’s cricketer – neither flamboyant nor the one to catch eyeballs through his dazzling stroke play. Like most batsmen from the Sub-continent, he tends to play each delivery as late as he can by hanging onto his back foot. A strategy like this often leads to his downfall, like it did during the Lord’s test as well, but he generally makes up for the chinks in his armour by playing the accumulator and not the enforcer.

He would be the ideal workman; come to the crease, do your job and leave. He would be the AK Hangal of the Pakistani side – one whose character never got any hype or publicity but his performance would always leave the maximum impact. In this T20 age, Misbah is the ideal example of a boring cricketer; one who would take his time to settle in and then unleash (the latter only if need be). However, he did shatter the ‘boring cricketer’ notion during his 56-ball century against Australia which was then the fastest in a test match, equaling the great Sir Vivian Richards.

His ploy has often attracted brickbats from many armchair critics as it was evident during his two infamous knocks against India in the 2011 & the 2015 World Cup. What most people don’t remember is the fact that he mostly played with an incompetent team and was often left the last man standing. It was therefore imperative for him to protect his wicket which often gets him the tag of a ‘selfish’ cricketer.

His stop-start cricketing career is evident from the fact that he has managed to play only 62 tests despite making his debut as early as 2001. Pakistan cricket often chose to hunt for flashy, swashbuckling cricketers who often end up being the one-test/ODI wonder and then fade away. Just like many other talented cricketers who often ended up in the shadows of a more media friendly name, Misbah too has spent most of his career under the shadow of an over-hyped Shahid Afridi or some of his other teammates who stay in the news mostly for non-cricketing reasons.

42 years young! Misbah has all the intentions to keep going! The push-ups became the highlight of the first day’s play at Lord’s.

The push-ups may serve as an indicator that he has no intentions to hang-up his boots anytime soon as well as a timely reminder to the selectors back home who have failed to find a worthy replacement for the ‘Workman.’