New Delhi: Cricket seems to have become a heady cocktail – a base of talented, young, marketable players, a dash of glamour and mega bucks thrown in to make India Premier League a seriously intoxicating brew.
But if the excitement has go to you, sober down for a moment and spare a thought for other sports in this Olympic year as well.
Hockey, badminton, archery, rifle shooting – are all sports where Indian players have done well on the international arena.
Will they be forgotten forever?
Says President, Archer's Federation, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, "Cricket has already taken over other sports. We must make attempts to look for similar models in other sports as well."
Sports Authority of India is responsible for ensuring that all sports in the country get equal attention. But letters available with CNN-IBN show that’s not happening.
In a letter dated October 19, 2007, the SAI wrote to the Sports ministry saying that it didn’t have the infrastructure to buy equipment for archers, shooters and badminton players
Two weeks later, on November 5, the Sports Ministry wrote back to the SAI, instructing it to ask different sport associations to buy equipment on their own, money that the SAI will have to reimburse, subject to approvals.
The exchange of letters is still on and the equipment has still not been bought. Ironically, while Rs 160 crore rupees are spent on buying top cricketers in a span of a few hours, in this game being played by the government, tenders have to be floated, ads have to be put in and rule book has to be adhered to for buying shuttle cocks, bullets or bows and arrows.
But SAI is unperturbed. Says Executive Director, SAI, Prem Chand Kashyap, "These are all teething problems. I am sure we will get over them."
Former Olympians, though, fear the worst as the gap between cricket and other sports widens.
"There should be some balancing, other sports should also be promoted in a similar way,” says former hockey player, Zafar Iqbal.
While cricket has moved from five-star to seven-star game, other sports remain distant, poor cousins.
Given the approach of sports authorities to Olympic sports, it will require a revolution to bridge the gap between the two.
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