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24 years old, freestyle Indian wrestler, Bajrang Punia shows disappointment over Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna recommendations. The freestyle wrestler who won Gold at Commonwealth games and Asian games this year is not happy over the Khel Ratna snub. The wrestler said, "I don’t know why I was not considered. These days they have a points system so it is open and you have a fair idea of which player has more points as per the scheme. And I had the best numbers amongst the athletes who were shortlisted for Khel Ratna. But even then I didn’t get the award and I want to know the reason why I was ignored"
Sports Ministry recommended Padmashri awardee Indian Weightlifter, Mirabai Chanu and Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli for this award.
Bajrang Punia is going to meet Sports Minister Mr. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore over this issue on this Friday, he said "It is in his (Minister’s) hands now. I will tell him — ‘Give me the award only if you think I was a deserving candidate’. Also, I want to know the reason why I was dropped from the list. I will approach the court as a last option and if I am not convinced with the explanation".
A member of the selection committee defended the committee's decision and said, "What he does not realize is the fact that his points will only be compared with that of another wrestler, his complaint would have been justified had we ignored him and recommended another wrestler who had lesser points than him”.
He also added that “Cricketers or kho-kho or kabaddi players don’t get to play in the Olympics, Commonwealth Games or even Commonwealth Championships like the wrestlers. Many athletes will have lesser points because they get to play a few tournaments. It is up to the discretion of the committee. Bajrang was not in the top three. Mirabai and Virat were the automatic choices".
The Indian Sports Ministry is trying its best to keep the recommendation process transparent, as it adopted this point scheme for the recommendation but there are certain loopholes in this scheme. As per this scheme, cricketers will always end up getting zero points but selecting a cricketer over an athlete who earned maximum points under this scheme is also not justified. The whole issue is because of this inefficient methodology.
The answer to this problem could be, comparing the cricket World Cup with Olympics, Asia Cup to Asian Games and so on but this solution is just an improvement over the existing situation and can't be termed as an ideal methodology. An ideal situation would be cricket being a part of the Olympics and other events along with several other left out sports and in this case, BCCI's uncompromising stand over cricket not being a part of the Olympics is not helping the cause.
Players knocking on the door of courts for justice is not new but these sort of events weaken players confidence. These players toil hard and perform at big stages but the failure to get recognized adversely affects their self-confidence. So, the government should come up with a more robust and proven methodology for recommending any player for an award.
