Are we partial to cricket?

The full state is euphoric pursuing the historical triumph of our women’s squad successful the ICC World Cup cricket last recently. It’s an outstanding accomplishment that makes each Indian arrogant and proves beyond uncertainty that, similar our men’s team, our women cricketers, too, person what it takes to beryllium satellite champions.

However, a sore constituent with non-cricketers is that different games successful India are seldom popularised and promoted arsenic overmuch arsenic cricket. Cricket intelligibly does bask preferential treatment, thereby endowing it with an elitist representation astatine the outgo of different games that are arsenic fashionable successful the state — hockey, football, tennis, badminton and array tennis, to sanction lone a few. Indeed, there’s increasing resentment implicit this unseemly discrimination.

True, Indian cricket has fared commendably successful the planetary arena, earning galore laurels clip and again. However, is this capable justification to unduly favour cricket implicit different games successful which our players person besides proved their mettle? The Sports Ministry has an inescapable work to close this glaring imbalance if the modular (and existent popularity) of these games — successful nary mode inferior to cricket successful presumption of fast-paced enactment — are not to beryllium adversely affected.

Thanks to unstinting enactment from each quarters, cricket has go a high-profile crippled popularised circular the twelvemonth by attention-grabbing planetary tournaments. It unjustly corners acold much publicity and vulnerability successful the state than arguably immoderate different game. Indeed, thing retired of the mean that our cricketers bash successful their mundane beingness makes quality — to the conspicuous exclusion of what our non-cricket players do. In fact, TV quality channels and people media often spell retired of their mode to highlight, rather exhaustively, the show of our players successful planetary cricket tournaments. In the process, different games and their players are invariably relegated to the background, if not oblivion.

Admittedly, successful presumption of wide entreaty cricket outstrips each different games successful India. However, this is nary excuse for letting it overshadow different alleged ‘unglamorous’ games, pushing them into the background. Indeed, it’s unfair of our Sports Ministry to fto cricket unsocial country the lion’s stock of funding, promotion, publicity and attraction portion different games virtually languish for privation of the information and motivation enactment that cricket unfailingly commands.

Indeed, we look to beryllium coddling cricket unduly astatine the outgo of different games. For instance, hockey — successful which India erstwhile excelled internationally — has mislaid overmuch of its sheen for privation of encouragement, publicity and sponsorships. The aforesaid applies to galore different games that unluckily deficiency cricket’s charisma and entreaty but nevertheless person legions of staunch votaries successful the country.

‘Sidelining’ these games to beforehand cricket simply due to the fact that it’s a perennial and unfailing money-spinner is patently unfair and surely not successful the country’s wide interests. Cash-strapped and sponsor-starved, the Boards for the promotion of different games successful the state are astatine a chiseled disadvantage successful this respect. No 1 begrudges cricket its coveted presumption arsenic the astir fashionable crippled successful the state and 1 that brings america glory clip and again.. But different games, too, merit a just deal.

In the afterglow of our women’s commendable occurrence successful the ICC World Cup final, immoderate soul-searching and introspection are indispensable to guarantee that each games person an adjacent playing tract — adjacent if cricket continues to beryllium overwhelmingly popular. An equitable yardstick would beryllium to uniformly beforehand each games strictly successful enactment with the grade of their popularity successful the country. Pampering cricket unsocial is tantamount to step-motherly attraction towards different games.

gnettomunnar@rediffmail.com