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London Olympics are over now and it is time to review the performance of our athletes. Indian contingent came back with six Olympic medals, including two silvers and four bronze. The medal tally has doubled from the Beijing Olympics and it is definitely a reason to celebrate.

Winning an Olympic medal is the biggest honour that an athlete can vie for and it is also probably the most difficult task to achieve. The fact that we doubled the medals tally shows that India is moving in the right direction. But for a country with a population of over 1.2 billion, winning six medals isn’t something to rave about.

It should be understood for a fact that India has never been a sporting nation. Cricket is the only sport which is cherished by one and all and it is also the only sport in which we are neck-to-neck with other countries.

There are people who blame cricket for India’s ignorance in other sports, but is it fair? Yes, cricket has all the money and the sponsors and the fan following, but the game has not forced people to follow it and ignore other sports. There has to be some good reasons why cricket is so much more popular and more established than any other sport in India.

First of all Indian cricket has not always been this powerful in our country or for that matter internationally. BCCI which dictates terms in cricket hasn’t always been so influential. It is a fact that in the 1999 World Cup in England, most of the Indian matches were scheduled at smaller venues. So, what happened in 13 years that every country in the world wants to host the Indian cricket team? The credit should be given to the Indian board for the way they have managed cricket in the country. Other sporting board should take a cue from the BCCI in that regard.

Secondly, the reason why cricket is so famous is because the team has some legends of the game. The players have been marketed well and they are the household name. It is not that other sports do not have heroes, but the problem is that they are not exposed well and their achievements are not known to the masses. Let’s take the example of the medal winning athletes from London Olympics. MC Mary Kom was a five time World Champion, but it took her an Olympic medal to be known in the entire country. She was a popular boxer but only in a particular genre. Silver medallist Vijay Kumar was surprised by the reaction he got in India. He had won almost everything before the Olympic medal, but no one knew him, including most the media, before his triumph at London.

It is true that some of the international IPL stars are more famous than most of the athletes from the Indian contingent. So is it cricket’s fault. Other sports have to get their acts together. They should know how to promote their heroes and only then they can promote the sport.

Indian cricket board started a revelation in the form of Indian Premier League. The influence of the league is incomparable. Even with all the controversies surrounding the league, it is still one of the most popular leagues and is the second richest league of the world. Similarly, hockey introduced World Series Hockey and it turned out to be a flop. Reason – the conflict between the two governing bodies.

So, before criticizing cricket for everything, one should think about how they are dealing with the resources that they have. India is ready to look beyond cricket and is ready to celebrate the success in other sports; all they need is a good reason.

By Gaurav Jha 

Indian Sports News