Shimla-the birthplace of the Durand Cup and the Indian Air Force ...

start up
Editorial
The 2009 leadership summit organised by the Hindustan
Times, featured a panel discussion on the future of
cricket. The panellists consisting of Sunil Gavaskar,
Ravi Shastri and Richard Hadley fielded numerous
questions from the audience. Surprisingly, a gentleman
commented on the bleak future of cricket in India, especially
in view of the challenges posed by other sports. The gentleman
used his personal example to make the point. He narrated that
he had a luncheon invitation with Sachin Tendulkar, and he
asked his son to accompany him. But to his horror the son curtly
said that he was not interested - had it been Beckham, he would
have definitely come along. However, the question raised by the
gentleman touched a raw nerve – his comment was sacrilegious
in a country that reveres both Sachin and cricket.
It is obvious that the gentleman must have been wealthy and
influential enough to be invited for lunch with Sachin. As a
corollary, his son must be regularly vacationing in Europe
besides being a student of an elite school where soccer is a
popular sport. That probably explains the son’s exposure to
international football and their stars. One does not discount
the role that television has played in bringing live international
football to Indian homes but the football craze is still, more of
an up market phenomenon. It has yet to percolate down to the
masses.
For the Indian masses, an unshackled cricket is only a three
decade old phenomenon. Prior to the 1983 World cup victory,
cricket was more of an urban phenomenon, with ‘copy book’ style
batsmen ruling the roost. There was more style than substance
in their performances. It is only when commoners from small
towns like Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni started arriving on stage
that cricket got a new lease of life. IPL further democratized
cricket. The hegemony of Delhi and Mumbai over Indian cricket
was dismantled and aspirations of ordinary Indians to make it
a livelihood have been kindled - one finds gully cricket being
played in every nook and corner of the country and even in
the middle of pot holed roads. And this bottom up movement
explains India’s top ICC rankings in all forms of cricket.
Barring a few towns and schools, football is far from being
Atul Bhardwaj is a former naval officer. He
is a graduate of King’s College London. He
can be contacted at atul.beret@gmail.com
Durand is back with a bang
the most preferred sport.
Messi and Man United are
the topics of discussion
among kids born with a
silver spoon. In nutshell,
the revival of football in
India is happening from
the top. Furthermore,
for these children, the
play station rather than
the playfield is a more
exciting option. Thus, the
revival of football in India
is not likely to happen in
the next decade. It may
eventually happen, but
it surely is going to be a
protracted affair.
The Indian Armed
forces with a deep
rooted love for football
need to be commended
for their efforts to take
the Durand tournament
to the level it deserves
- to see India on the
international football
map. The armed forces
can create local football
heroes reaching the
hearts and minds of
Indians
For India to come up in global football reckoning, talent would
have to be unearthed from the villages and small towns. But talent
can’t be nurtured by thrusting Rolando on the downtrodden by
showing them international matches, where the players are as
alien to them as Sachin Tendulkar is to people in Germany and
Greece. Local heroes have to be groomed and alongside, best
sporting practices, devoid of politics and partisanship have to
be established. It is these good practices that will ensure that
infrastructure that comes up is as world class as the Delhi Metro
and tournaments like Durand get adequate support for public
as well as private agencies.
The Indian Armed forces with a deep rooted love for football
need to be commended for their efforts to take the Durand
tournament to the level it deserves - to see India on the
international football map. The armed forces have men who hail
from remote corners of India and from all communities and can
create local football heroes who would be brand ambassadors
of the game, reaching the hearts and minds of Indians - fatigued
by too much cricket. The Indian army and other two services are
more than willing to perform this role with dedication, ‘bend it
like Beckham’ to make Durand a grand success.
purple beret July 2011 3