Politics killing Indian sport

File Photo: Members of Indian rowing team during a practice session at the Hussain Sagar lake in Hyderabad. They won medals against all odds.

Two, rather three stark things stood out for the Indian contingent in the on-going Asian Games at Doha. First was the three-gold haul by Jaspal Rana, then a double silver and a bronze sweep by the Indian rowing team. And the third was elimination of the Indian hockey team.

Jaspal Rana won not because of his Federation, but out of his sheer determination by overcoming illness and obstacles that were put in his way by our own countrymen. A bitter Rana, who did not land up with a single medal at the Busan Asiad, minced no words when he spoke out after his hat-trick at Doha. His bosses in the Federation did everything that they could to prevent the shooting star from winning at Doha. They refused him services of his Australian coach Tibor Gonczol and also spiked his ammunition.

All this, to make sure that anyone who spoke out against the powers-that-be will be silenced forever. Why were the services of the coach refused? Well government rules say a shooting coach cannot be above 70 years. What about politicians, why cannot the same rules apply to them? Forget the medals, damn the nation! That seems to be the motto of our self-seeking politicians. Now that Rana is also getting into politics, he can extract a sweet revenge!

Politics has been integrated into sports from a long time in our country. Suresh Kalmadi, Om Prakash Chautala, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, KP Singh Deo, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sharad Pawar have all claimed to represent the interests of Indian sport. The truth was that politicians used their sports titles to further their personal ambitions. Kalmadi for example has dabbled at everything, from the Pune Marathon to pitching for Olympics.

What’s in sports that attract politicians in hordes? It’s money, as simple as that. To add to that are foreign junkets to ‘watch’ international events like World Cup football, Olympics along with their family members. There are more non-officials in the Indian team than athletes and coaches. What about athletes who need international training? Forget it.

Opening and closing ceremonies cost a bomb, and contracts like the ones held in Hyderabad during the Afro-Asian games run into crores of rupees. No bids are called for such extravaganzas and so the cronies can have the contracts provided they pay the politicians a cut. It’s time we learn from the Chinese, not just in setting up SEZs, but also producing world champions.

The worst sufferers in the recent times have been Indian Hockey, which has fallen into an abyss from the hey days of Dhyan Chand. KPS Gill whose only claim to fame was the quelling of Punjab insurgency, found himself unemployed and promptly pitched in as the big boss of Indian Hockey Federation. The results are there to see, with the Indian hockey team going down the tube, losing tournament after tournament. India has played with five different teams in the recent past with equally disastrous results.

Olympian Viren Rasquinha was dropped from the Doha Asiad squad at the last minute, despite being selected earlier. Dilip Tirkey, who was ignored for the Melbourne tournament, made a return to the Doha games, and that too as captain! The mercurial Dhanraj Pillay was often the victim of Gill’s mood swings, and so was our own Mukesh Kumar, who was dumped for apparent lack of fitness.

Even the coaches were made to run around in a game of musical chairs. In Doha squad, Baskaran who was sacked earlier as the Indian hockey coach replaced Rajinder Singh jr, who was coach at the Melbourne games. After the Doha debacle, are there any guesses who the next coach will be?

Nobody has gone to the root cause of the problem, which incidentally lies at the sub junior level. If Indian hockey has to regain its glory all over gain, then the IHF has to pay attention to youngsters playing at the school level. It’s from the bottom of this pyramid that the talent at the senior level will emerge to the top. Chopping and changing seniors will not help. The latest news that the International Hockey Federation has prepared a blueprint for the revival of Indian hockey is an insult to us Indians. We taught the world to play hockey, and now they are coming back to teach us. Gill and Co - chullubhar pani mein doob maro.

Cricket, our national religion has seen the messiest of all scrambles. For a long time, a marwari businessman from Kolkata, Jagmohan Dalmiya ran it like a proprietorship company. His was the final word, and no one dared to dissent. He decided who would play where, who will be the players, who will telecast the matches and so on… Contracts for telecast of cricket matches particularly one-day internationals run into billions and are the hub of corrupt politicos. With no known system of transparency, the BCCI goes about things their own way.

Even captaincy of the Indian team comes in the form of a dialogue. Remember Raj Singh Dungarpurkar’s famous question to Mohd Azharuddin, “Captain banoge miya ? ”. Azhar must have said something to the effect of “yes”, and in an instant he became the Indian skipper. It’s as easy as that. Ask Saurav Ganguly, who was made and unmade from hero to zero in no time. The cricket boards of Australia, England & Wales, South Africa and even Zimbabwe have appointed full-time Chief Executive Officers to run their cricket boards in a professional manner. We still have Sharad Pawar and company to run cricket here.

But there is some good news among the doom. For months on end, a group of rowers were hard at work in the Hussain Sagar lake, which straddles the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. One must have often noticed these men silhouetted in the early morning mist of the lake, as they pulled back their rows and moved steadily forward. Not many would have given them a second look. After all they are not the members of the Indian cricket team. They were just a bunch of rowers who went about their practice sessions with little or no support from anyone, except the Rowing Federation of India.

Led from the front the never-say-die by Col C P Singh Deo, the Federation does not even have annual funding equaling that of a Ranji Trophy cricket match. For days on end, Col Singh, his trainers and the boys went about their training in the putrid waters of the Hussain Sagar lake. Not many gave them a chance, but the boys had it in them.

Never before had India won silver in rowing at the Asian Games, and the performance at Doha Asiad has been their best ever. Bajrang Lal Takhar won silver in the men's single sculls, while the men's fours team of Dharmesh Sangwan, Jenil Krishnan, Satish Joshi and Sukhjeet Singh bagged another silver. Brijender and Yalamanchi Kiran won the double sculls bronze.

For Secretary of the Indian Rowing Federation, Col Deo, it was a sweet revenge, as he thumbed cock-a-snook at some people who managed to get the government to pull the funding plug for rowing team during the last two months. Despite this, the Indian Rowing Federation kept the camp going with funds from its own pocket. Backing him to the hilt was Ismail Baig, a Dronacharya awardee who put into place a professional training system, which produced rewarding results at Doha.

The rousing welcome the rowing team got at the Begumpet airport on their return from Doha, must have puzzled them. The rowing team now has its eyes set on the world championships and an Olympic qualification.

Many of us, who are ardent cricket fans, will be saddened by the lack of support for other disciplines like Rowing and Shooting. It's time we all put in our individual efforts and raise funds to provide quality equipment and training for these boys so that they can one day bring home a Olympic medal. We are proud of you boys, you have made us Hyderabadis hold our heads higher. Mera Bharat Mahan.
Please join us in congratulating the Indian rowing team. Comment or write to apmedia@rediffmail.com