The National Predicament of Holding Sporting Events

With the commonwealth games just days away, Authorities in India shiver after shambolic pre games preparation efforts that have been protracted over half a decade.

It was a day of elation and celebration as the biggest democracy of the world got hold of, what was thought at that point, a giant step towards holding the Olympics or the soccer world cup. But, that was more of an ambition of a nation looking to be a world power by 2020, today; this all seems a fairytale turned into a nightmare. But being from the same part of the world, this has not come as a surprise for me. Except for Cricket, which is more of a religion in India, the nation lags miles behind the world in terms of facilities and infrastructure. So much so, that few of the world events before this fiasco were on the brink of being shifted to Europe or Australia.
If anyone has interest in field hockey, he would remember the kind of administrative struggle IHF (Indian Hockey Federation) faced earlier this year in holding the world cup. So much so, that the federation was dissolved and elections were held in lightning speed to bring a sort of transparency at the helm. An infrastructure failure lead to a disastrous badminton world championships a few years back with water dripping at the indoor stadium . Hence this is not the first time and with the things the way it is, this does not look like the last time.
So, what is wrong with a nation that has got world class sportspersons, scholars and business minds? Someone alien to conditions in India would be asking why is the nation so much obsessed about holding world events when it struggles to do so? The answer lies in the kind of commitment organizers, administrators and the national government shows in something that do not directly impact them in person. Well, then how come the same country boasts of two successful cricket world cups and the path breaking Asian Games of 1982. Again, the answer lies in the level of commitment.

Let’s look at cricket, a sport run by an autonomous body, BCCI (Board of control for cricket in India). Jagmohan Dalmiya, the head of the BCCI during the mid 90s vowed to make cricket a marketable commodity. He was the kingpin in bidding and winning the right to host the 1996 world cup cricket jointly with neighboring Pakistan and Sri Lanka. A path breaking event, which showed India as a nation which means business and which is second to none. But, all this did not happen in matter of days. From the day the vision of an event of such magnitude was thought off, till the day the first ball of practice matches were bowled, BCCI did everything to make the event, one of a lifetime, and by the time the final was held at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, the board and the world cup organizing committee received unprecedented praise from all over the world. Yes, in 1996, the infrastructure was more or less ready, but how? It was because in 1987, with the world cup looming, Raj Singh Dongarpur marketed the event to the corporate world from which a clothing and warehouse firm came forward to sponsor the event. Again a kind of effort that the commonwealth games of today yearns for. Imilarly, Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, took the things in her hands in order to make the 1982 Asian Games a showcase to show the world where India stands after three and a half decade of independence. Hence if we look closely, the one thing common to these three organizational success is a sense of pride and a level of sheer commitment on the part of the government and administrator in order to showcase the best they have to offer.

Now, let us analyze how India went about the commonwealth games. The nation bid for the games as it had done a few times before, may be having a notion that the bid may fail again. Ironically and should I say against the expectations of the bid committee the only other nation reaching the final bid stage was Canada. Since the North American nation wanted to host the winter Olympics, it did not go full fledge for the other bid and hurray, India gets the chance to host the second largest games in terms of nations after the Olympics.

This clearly shows the fault start to a marathon of hosting a global sporting event that started about six years back. The marathon turned into a 100 meter dash which is now right at the home stretch and probably that is a real life proof why a fault start means a fresh start for any athletic event. But in the case of CWG 2010, it transformed into an ordeal which I fear may end up marring the image of a nation which is aiming to be shanghai by 2015.

Hence I believe, unless administrators, like the sports minister who compares this event to a typical Indian wedding in which everything is haphazard before the main ceremony but on the D Day all falls in place, are replaced by event management gurus, India will remain an aspirant of hosting an Olympics.

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Tendulkar, The bradman of ODI

December 1989, national stadium, Karanchi. A one day international, which was turned into an exhibition match because of poor light conditions turned out to be a turning point in not only the cricket history of India, but, the sport as a whole.

Sachin Tendulkar, at the age of 16 years took on the might of the Pakistan bowling attack, with the likes of Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, and Abdul Qadir, with such ease and authority that for once Imran Khan complemented the young boy by suggesting that he is the only tiger in a team of lambs. For a player Pakistan to shower such accolades on an Indian player was thoroughly unprecedented, most of the cricket fraternity took notice of that particular innings and a star was in the making. Just for those who do not know, Tendulkar smashed Abdul Qadir for three consecutive sixes, and that was after he took apart Waqar and Imran. India lost the match by just five runs but Tendulkar won a billion hearts.

I have been following the cricket as well as the life and times of Tendulkar from this very day, and I had no doubts in my mind that one day this prodigy from Mumbai would break Sunil Gavaskar’s records, but I had no idea as to the zenith of his achievements. Last week, he did what many thought was beyond him.
When you think of someone who has been a stalwart in his discipline over two decades, who has mystified the world with his eloquent behavior of the field and has mesmerized the world by his stroke making on it, you would say, what is left for him to achieve? What drives him to go all out each time he is on the field. I guess the answer lies in his passion for the sport. The drive and urge to just play for India, no more and no less.

It has been months since last time I wrote anything on this site, and am as lazy as the fat lady to write these days, but it’s a pure pleasure when it comes to putting thoughts together for a person who has been the epitome of success for over two decades. Today Sachin boasts of innumerable records in both forms of the game. If there were no bradman, tendulkar would have been the king of cricket by a long way. It is just unfortunate that we cannot have the great Don and the Bombay bomber playing in the same era. The debate over who is better between the two has again got momentum with Tendulkar smashing 200 in a one day knock. I feel there should not be any debates over matters which are generations apart. Bradman played in an era when pitches were uncovered, matches use to take place under what we call today, bad light and poor field conditions, add to that the bodyline series which caught, all accept the great bradman, by surprise. Apart from that there was a small matter of the Ausie playing without any protective gears. This all leads me to think that if he were playing today, even with brilliant fielding, analytical tools, enhancement in bowling skills, Sir Don would have scored with the same rate and average as he did about seven decades back.

Think of it, if we look seven decades further, we may get someone playing akin to Sachin and then there would be a further debate as the one doing the rounds today, hence I believe these comparisons would continue eternally.

Hence its better to concentrate on the present. Today and arguably till now, there has been no batsman apart from Tendulkar, who have taken the one day cricket by storm.He is growing in stature and performance with time. After the catastrophe of the 2007 world cup, it seems the genius have found a motivation in adversity to perform at the helm and lead India to what many see his only uncherished dream, a world cup win. One of the television commentators once said, statistics are like short skirts, they reveal more than they could hide. Same goes for the man who currently holds the record for most number of centuries, most runs, most half centuries, most man of the match awards, and the most recent, highest individual innings score in one day internationals, he is simply the best the one day game has seen and may remain the best for a long time to come.

Today, as the world of cricket has been taken over by the Lalit Modis and the IPL, there are very few batsmen who would attract more than capacity crowds to test matches, Virender Sehwaag is one and to an extent Gilchrist or Hayden in their prime may have done the same, but is their a better sight than watching Tendulkar go on the front foot to a seaming delivery and punching it down the ground for a trademark boundary? Would anyone care if that shot is played in a test or a twenty -twenty? I guess not, and that’s what makes greats like Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, special.
People struggle to come to terms with his balance on field and in life. Carrying the burden of more than a billion people, Tendulkar has been a true ambassador of the sport. I hope that in the remaining career of his the batting genius would continue to bedazzle the world with his master class on the field and his humility of it.

Sachin Tendulkar, The greatest Cricketer from India

On becoming the highest run getter in test cricket, I present before you as to why he is regarded one of the gentleman of sport.
15TH November 1989, a 16 year old boy took to the field in a pot boiler of a test match at Karanchi. At that point of time, no one would have imagined that nearly 19 years later, he would be regarded as one of the greats of the sport.
At the PCA ground in Mohali this week, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar would be looking to overhaul perhaps the most coveted record that cricket has; of being the player to aggregate most runs in test history. Although, the fact that he was to reach this feat was pretty evident years ago with the way he has been batting over the years, now that he has reached that milestone is auhas been a consistent perform throughout his career. Apart from that, Tendulkar has been a magnificent ambassador for the nation as well as the sport. And that’s exactly what makes him a legend. There have been players of similar if not better talent and performance than him, but what sets him apart is his ability to conduct himself on and off the field.
There has hardly been any controversy related to him, the Mike Dennis saga was the only time his name came to the forefront, when he was accused of tampering with seam of the ball and thereby bringing the sport to disrepute, but he came out of that with flying colors. We have seen the likes of Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh and Shane Warne, but when it comes to a complete champion, none of them can match this Mumbaikar. He has been a picture of concentration on the field and a true gentleman off it. I have never seen him show any sort of reaction to umpiring decisions, and he has had some horrendous shockers in the long career of his.
Even after amassing nearly 30,000 international runs and smashing over 80 international centuries, Sachin has been a player who has always come up and helped the youngsters. He has been polite and down to earth like an ordinary person. Everybody knows what he has achieved on the field, but what sets him apart is his tremendous conduct and respect for people and the sport. During one of the tours abroad, he went to the venue riding on the floor of the bus. The reason for that can be anything but for him to agree for that was amazing.
He has opened the batting order in one day internationals when Navjot Sidhu was ill on a seaming track at Eden Park in Auckland and smashed the bowling to all parts of the ground for a magnificent 82 off 49 balls. After that there was no looking back. People have said time and again that Sachin plays for records, but I feel most of his two decades in the national side has been spent when the team lacked strength in the batting order and he had no option but to play his part. I do not think that he played selfishly at any point, its just that after playing over 150 tests and 400+ ODIs, you are bound to speculate on some of his innings.

Talking about Innings of his, I would like to point out few of them which shows why he is a master with the willow. Five of his best knocks over the illustrious couple of decades. Top of the ladder remains an innings of substance that launched Tendulkar into limelight. 114* at Perth in 1992, an innings that was played against the tide, batting on arguably the fastest track in the world at that point of time, against a bowling line up of Hughes, McDermott and Reid. That was arguably the best knock I have seen him play. Next in line would be 136 against Pakistan at Chennai, just like the previous one, this one also could not help India win the test but they were parrelesly close in doing so. India lost by 12 runs and Tendulkar was weeping in the dressing room, most of his innings, the maestro was nursing a back spasm.
Another test knock of his is of course 116 against the Ausies at Melbourne in 1999. The boxing day test went to the hosts but Sachin stood out tall amongst the ruins. Edgebaston 1996 is another occasion when Tendulkar tried his level best to take India out of a hopeless situation with a well compiled century on a treacherous track. Last but not the least is the century at Newlands in Cape Town. 169 and a tremendous partnership with the then captain Mohammed Azharuddin.
I hope in the remaining days of his career, he can rewrite the history books further.

Author: Asif Islam, A dedicated sports lover since 1989, following closely the various aspects of popular sports worldwide. Writting articles and analytical reports on players and events since 2003.Email - asif2311@rediffmail.com

Time to transfer reigns to Dhoni

If India wants to become a world beating side, some tough decisions need to be taken and the first of which centers around Dhoni and permanent captaincy.
After the successful tour of Sri Lanka, I pointed out on the fact that Mahendra Singh Dhoni need to be provided with more responsibility and that its time to hand over the test captaincy to the wicketkeeper batsman. After witnessing the overwhelming success of the team in the Mohali test, I am convinced the sooner it’s done, the better it will be for the team.
With all due respect to Anil Kumble, who is a pure gentleman himself, as well as a marvelous leader, India currently is going through a transitional phase and it’s apt with the current form of the leg spinner that he cordially sacrifices his place for more than a solitary reason.
One, he has been a defensive captain, and as well that statement might seem an inflammatory one, I believe the way he lead the side in Bangalooroo had a semblance of India of the late nineties, a team who looked at the sport in a sedate orthodox manner, rather than being innovative and aggressive.
Am sure a lot of the readers might not agree with me, but after having followed the fortunes of the team over the past two decades, I feel Kumble has shades of the way Azhar used to lead the side. Waiting for things to happen, patiently awaiting a mistake on the behalf of the batsmen when proaaction was required. A true example of that being fact that when Australia were five for about 150 in the second innings of the first test, he did not go for the full monty and waited till the tourists declared.
As for Dhoni, he played the Mohali test in a simple manner. He never looked in two minds in any situation. When aggression was required, he came out one down and peeled of a half century. Even in the first innings, he took on the ausie attack in order to transfer the pressure that they tried to put with the wickets. A swash buckling 92 was a magnificent exhibition of the mindset of the Indian captain. That aggression got transferred when India bowled and even when Australia came out firing all cylinders, Dhoni kept his cool and tried the option of spin as early as the eighth over. It’s not that while attacking or at being aggressive, Dhoni loses cool and all hell break lose, but he keeps his whist about himself and produces his best under pressure.
The other reason why I want Dhoni to lead immediately is off course Amit Mishra and the form of Kumble. Mishra got this opportunity after being in wilderness for half a decade. This was his debut test and what impressed me the most was not only that he took seven wickets but the fact that the Ausies were clueless about his googly. They were only picking him from the pitch, which is quite reminiscent to the way the world was being bamboozled by Kumble himself with his faster ones during his prime. I feel there is no way that Amit can be dropped from the Delhi test and hence I believe Kumble needs to do a Nasser Hussain and let this lanky bowler take his place.
Why I am more adamant at this transition is because Kumble has lost the zip that he had earlier and the results are proving that. He has been toothless against Sri Lanka, South Africa and in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy. A season back, if I would have told you this could have happened, no one would have believed, but the fact is, at 38 Anil Kumble is well past his best and it’s time for him and Indian cricket to move on. A player who use to gobble up wickets in subcontinent conditions, was struggling to get even tail enders. Only a dozen wickets in seven tests, craves for a change. Sure the Bangalore giant has taken 616 scalps in his career, but there is always a time in a career of player when he needs to look beyond self, for the good of the side.
Today, we stand on the brink of snatching the Border Gavaskar Trophy from the world champions, but if this transition does not take place immediately, I feel India will be robbed of some innovative and well needed captaincy from Dhoni, and may well be from the trophy itself.

Author: Asif Islam, A dedicated sports lover since 1989, following closely the various aspects of popular sports worldwide. Writting articles and analytical reports on players and events since 2003.Email - asif2311@rediffmail.com

Australia on the downslide

At Mohali, India handed the world champions, their heaviest defeat in eighteen years. Are the glory years of the team from down under, over?
Although it’s premature to say that the glory days of the world champs are over, but with such a humiliating loss to India, bells are ringing in more than one way against the current Ausie line up. Whether you call it transition or a lean patch, but the fact remains that the current lineup of the cricket world champs, lack that X factor. When Ricky Ponting lead side landed in India, the reporters here were debating whether this was the weakest line up to have toured India, I was of the opinion that yes, they have lost few players to retirement, but had the belief that, as any touring Australia line up, they will pose a lot of trouble for the hosts.
Half the tour has passed, and the evidence that has come from the matches played, show that, the very spirit which was reminiscent to any Australian side, is missing from this one. That is ‘Gum shun’. A spirit to fight till the last breath. A true example of which, is the final day’s play at Mohali when India still needed to take five of the visitor’s wickets, and the tourists caved in meekly. It was hence of rd to believe when, with a dozen overs remaining on the final day at Bangalooroo, Ricky Ponting agreed for a draw when he needed just a couple of wickets to get into a feeble Indian tail. I am wondering if this is the same Australian side, which uses to fight for every inch, which turned the Chennai test of 2001 on its head when India needed just a further 20 to win with seven wickets in hand, to nearly snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Throughout the Mohali test it seemed there was only one side playing on the ground. Even when India lost Dravid, Gambhir and Laxman in quick succession, Ponting and Australia could not take the initiative and defensive fields were set. It’s ok that in 2004 Adam Gilchrist took the tourists to their first win in 35 years in India, by having unorthodox, imaginative and at sometimes ultra defensive fields, but when a side had slumped from something like 140 odd for one to about four down within ten runs, some sort of attacking instincts were called for from the Australians in order to combat the likes of Ganguly and Tendulkar, who I must admit, must have been aware of what the opponents were looking for. Eventually India put up an imposing total which lead to their spinners strangling the Ausies to death along with Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan.
Probably now we can safely say that the champions from down under are missing the likes of Warne and McGrath. The exodus of Langer, Gilchrist and Martyn in the batting department has surely taken the sting off the top order as well as the lower middle order. I still remember Gilchrist coming into a pot boiling situation at 5/99 in the Mumbai test of 2001, taking the attacks to the hosts, smashed 122 in no time to turn the tide towards the visitors. Imagine him being in this side and the difference he would have made. Also the opening partnership of Hayden and Katich is not providing the starts that we are so use to seeing when Langer was accompanying Hayden.
Coming to the bowling front, the whole lineup of 2004 (the last time Australia toured India), has changed in this tour. With no Glenn McGrath or Shane Warne, the tourists are lacking the strike bowler while the absence of Michael Kaspowicz and Jason Gillispie, means that it’s hard to stop the bleeding of runs. People talk of Warne & McGrath but they forget the impact players like Kaspowicz, Gillispie or a Bichel had on a test match, not just with the ball, but in the case of the latter two, with the bat as well. Who can forget Gillispie helping out Steven Waugh to a memorable century at Kolkata in 2001.
I feel, as in the late eighties, today, Australia is at the beginning of a downslide which will see them lose more matches than expected, and if the arrogance of the batting remains the same as was seen with Ponting and Hayden in the second innings at Mohali, this slide will be steeper. What they require is some solidity, both in batting, bowling and captaincy, and I feel it will come with time.
Hence I believe India has a great chance to pounce on this glorious opportunity and wrap the series in Delhi as the Australians seems to have gone a bit too far in their love for arrogance, gamesmanship and the belief of being world beaters.

Author: Asif Islam, A dedicated sports lover since 1989, following closely the various aspects of popular sports worldwide. Writting articles and analytical reports on players and events since 2003.Email - asif2311@rediffmail.com