Who cares for Medal, We have plenty…Isn’t it??

So finally, India has given away a probable Gold Medal to other contenders from its large chest of medals won in Asian Games and Olympics. The latter part of the sentence actually makes me laugh “the large chest of medals”, as if we have a bundle of medals won in International events and are kept somewhere in Delhi. But, I think, for BCCI this is not a joke. BCCI has seen this large bundle of medals somewhere in Delhi that is why they have decided single-handedly that Indian Cricket teams would not go for Asian Games in November this year. The reason, they have commitments from the ICC. The unofficial reason, they have revenues related to these commitments. Who gets paid for playing in Asian Games??

The Cricket world has grown but has not become matured which has been proved by this incident. The Cricket Authorities in India are behaving like a celebrity who has just tasted fame and is not able to handle the riches in a mature manner. BCCI is just after money, it clearly seems to be like that from its activities. BCCI has power to change the decisions of ICC and it has proved this at many occasions. BCCI has never succumbed to any pressure from ICC. Even on critical issues like WADA it has never bowed down to International body’s decisions. Accepting all this means BCCI could have requested the postponing of the New Zealand series in Nov to take part in Asian Games. At least they could have tried this. Isn’t it!!

Asian Games are not just games. They are a symbol of pride. When a player wins a medal the whole country is delighted. It boosts up the moral of even the common man. In India sports, especially cricket is a game of emotions and pride. Was it correct to let away an opportunity of a probable Gold Medal in Asian Games??

We all know what the track record of India has been in Olympics- from 1952 to 2008 only 5 Medals (1 Gold, 1 Silver, 3 Bronze). A good performance in Cricket in Asian Games could have paved way for us in Olympics. But no, we don’t promote games other than Cricket and we don’t play Cricket for national pride. That’s the story in a nutshell. Participating in Asian Games isn’t just a matter of playing and winning. It also involves mixing up with athletes from around the world, a cricketer can learn fitness tricks from an athlete or vice versa. It would have been a great experience for young players. By this decision, Cricket has restricted itself to some pet nations and some regular places where it is being played year after year.

I wish the inclusion of Cricket would have been done a decade ago or even long before that. Till now, probably, Cricket would have been inducted as an Olympic event and we would have got a bunch of medals for the country. Teams of Kapil Dev and Azharuddin would have gone for the events in Asian Games proudly. Sachin would have had to his credit Gold medal wins for India. But, today, there’s no Sachin and no Kapil. All we have is a bunch of greedy administrators who will use the teams to their benefit.

Thanks!!