After Independence how much have Indian sports done. This is a question which comes to many young sportsmen. Once we were leaders in hockey and football. On date we still play the national sports at some level against some good opposition but football is in a state of mediocrity.
After, reading a couple of interviews about the young gunners of Indian sports. I analyzed that a question which is common in every interview “Why in India we lack of producing good athletes?”. And most of them answer “In India sports is never a choice for career. Parents never encourage their kids to take up sports professionally and with that lack of infrastructure.” The first part is true to some extent. As the kids grow up they really find it hard to sustain the dream and they quit and choose a safe and secure career.
Cricket is the only sport which is counted as a religion. After the world cup triumph in 1983 this sport came to the lime light. This is one sport which is played by every Indian at some point of time in his life and loved it. Slowly after the world cup victory the team started getting good talents one after the other. And by the late 90’s Indian batting line up was called the best batting line up in the world.
Year 2001 was the revolution for the Indian cricket. VVS Laxman’s brilliant batting stopped the Aussies dream run. He denied the likes of McGrath and Shane Warne his wicket in the famous Eden gardens followed by the magical spell from Harbhajan singh turned the match in India’s favor. Arguably, one of the biggest wins in Indian soil. The team lead by Saurav Ganguly never looked back. Overseas series wins in Pakistan, West-Indies and test match wins in South Africa, Australia was a clear indication of the beginning of a new chapter.
A new group of players emerged and they were talented enough to replace the big batters in some form of the sport. Dhoni, Shewag, Gambhir, Raina did their part and their work cannot be questioned by any one. Undoubtedly India is the best test playing nation in the world today. They are leading the ICC rankings and the great 20-20 world cup victory gave the team a lot of respect and pride.
If we talk about football other than the East Bengal’s 2003 Asean Club cup championship I don’t see any victory to count.Bhaichung Bhutia tried to play for the English club Berry. And a couple of Nehru Cup wins. No wonder why India is ranked 134 in FIFA ranking. When will this clubs understand they are not taking Indian football anywhere by not allowing the players to play for National team and making life difficult for the Indian coach. One of the big clubs of Indian football arranged Diego MaraDona’s visit to India and he charged a huge sum of money. But does that help. I have great regards for the god of football it will be a great pleasure to watch him but doesn’t help in a country where the IFA has to ask financial help from BCCI.
- Sports in India
The recent performance of Abbhinava Bindra made every Indian proud. The first gold medal for India came in 2008 beijing Olympics .Vijendar Singh and Sushil kumar were not far when they added two bronze to the medal count for India. They are living legends and deserve the same respect as any Yuvraj or Raina.
Saina and Sania with similar kind of names are the two girls from the same city Hyderabad.Saina currently ranked 6 is the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics and the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championship. She shook the world after winning the first super series tournamnet.
Sania Mirza who is known for her powerful forehand ground strokes gave us a lot of hope with her debut in International Arena. She clinched the 2003 Wimbledon Championships girls’ doubles title. With a career best ranking of 27 she is surely not consistent performer with the injuries coming her way in regular intervals. But she has made many woman athletes in India believe that they can also make it to the world stage.
As sponsors coming these young athletes way I just hope they should not end up like P.T Usha or Mikha Singh.
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Author: Arnab – Upcoming Keeda
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I dont think India has done anything substantial in Sports .. few medals here n there are nothing … for India sports in just cricket ! period. hope this changes some time some day … nice site btw all the best