Can India ever become a sporting nation? It is not difficult to answer this question, as we live in a country where real talents are often being ignored. This is why achievements of sportspersons like Kidambi Srikanth are hardly noticed. People fumble to name the country that India beat to lift the Asia Cup in hockey. Mary Kom had to share her award with two others. Rather what everyone knows is who Indian Cricket captain Virat Kohli is dating now or Hardik Pandya’s fondness for night life. Thus it is no wonder that Virat Kohli earns more than Lionel Messi in terms of salary and endorsement. The very habit of Indian people of ignoring all other sports apart from Cricket stands as a major stumbling block in way of the achieving sporting excellence.
Before entering further in to the argument let us make it clear that it is not an attempt to discredit the game of Cricket. Cricket is a nice game, which people in parts of the globe like much and play. Cricket is popular in countries like England, Australia, South Africa, and New Zeeland, Sri Lanka and in Indian sub-continent. These days few other countries like Ireland, Holland have also started playing cricket. With the introduction of limited over games, already popular Cricket has become more popular. Though not many countries play Cricket like Football, yet Cricket generates a lot of revenue like Tennis at present. A major portion of that revenue comes from India. So as long as people will continue to love Cricket, the game will be undoubtedly regarded as the major sport in India, irrespective of the fact that the game is not an Olympic sport.
The question we must ask ourselves in this context is whether to ignore Olympic sports or not. If the answer is no, it means that deliberately we are ignoring the efforts of other sportspersons. We all know that road to the top is always challenging. Especially in sports there is no shortcut to success. We may be fond of Cricket. But we must keep it in mind that like a cricketer, Kidambi Srikanth or Mery Kom too had also worked hard to achieve notable success. Like the cricketers, their success stories are also written in blood, sweat, dedication and hard work. For example, Srikanth, who has won three Badminton Super Series titles in 2017, not long ago suffered a career threatening injury. Many thought that was the end of the shuttler’s career. But with sheer determination, Srikanth has made a spectacular come back. Same is the story of Mary Kom and almost all other sportspersons in the country. They all fought hard to curb a niche for themselves. At times, they were definitely down, but clearly not out. They came back strongly. There is nothing wrong in treating Virat Kohli as role model. But at the same time, we should not be ignorant about the sacrifices made by numerous other sportspersons of the country, for whom the Tri-Colour flies at the top in international sporting events. With little encouragement from us, it is certain that they will make the country proud. More we encourage them, more we will nearer to our goal of becoming a sporting nation.
