Favouritism Of Cricket In India

Salvation

Damnation
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Always the summer's slipping away
A good read:

We have achievers too: Carvalho
TNN

BANGALORE, September 27: To fast or not to fast is not the question. For Indian hockey, recognition undoubtedly is. A day after creating a stir with his comments about how the game is being shabbily treated in this country and the news that assistant coach Ramesh Parameswaran may even go on a hunger strike to drive home the point, chief coach Joaquim Carvalho said that the least the country could have done was nod in appreciation after their Asia Cup triumph.

"The operative word is protest," Carvalho told TOI. "We only wanted to stress that an agitation alone would help in restoring order. A hunger strike or any other ostensible way of protest was not what we were aiming at. The idea was to tell that we have achievers here too."

The impact of Carvalho’s words and the upshots thereafter was quite dramatic. Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy announced cash awards on Wednesday evening even as Civil Aviation minister Praful Patel said that players from Air India, who were in the Asia Cup team would be 'suitably rewarded'. The promotions and incentives by Air India will no doubt be "out of turn", as Carvalho saw it, but "most welcome."

But the biggest compliment came from Information and Broadcasting Minister and All India Football Federation chief Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi. "I am happy that you have spoken up for India's sportspersons," Dasmunsi is reported to have told Carvalho. "We have done well in hockey, football and cricket and there ought to be no discrimination. I will be glad to support this cause in the future."

With the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) too extending its support, with its studied silence speaking more than words, Carvalho feels his outburst has had the desired effect.

"Take Maharashtra, for example. The way they reacted to the Twenty20 triumph was remarkable. The cash reward of Rs 10 lakh each for the cricketers came at the snap of a finger. But do they also know that I hail from Mumbai? That Adrian D'Souza, Gurbaj Singh and Shivendra Singh too come from the same place?"

Carvalho also recalled that he and Merwyn Fernandis were allotted flats 19 years ago for their outstanding performance in hockey. "Cricketers who were promised flats after that got them. We are still waiting for our turn."

India need to honour sports stars: Jeev

Chandigarh: India's top golfer Jeev Milkha Singh said on Wednesday that India should grow into a sporting nation where all its sports stars get due honour and recognition. "India needs to be a sporting nation and should recognise the achievements of all its players," Jeev said. He also felt that hockey needs to be marketed well in the country if it has to get fame and glory at par with cricket.

NRIs to raise $1 mn for hockey players

Chandigarh: The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) received a promise of financial support from an unexpected quarter as Non Resident Indians (NRIs) of USA and Canada vowed to raise $1 million to assist hockey players.

"We wish to assist you in bringing Indian hockey at par with Indian cricket. NRIs in USA and Canada would raise $1 million as rewards for the hockey players, who won the Asia Cup and who will excel in the future games to take India to the Olympics," Indian Overseas Congress chief Vikram Bajwa said in a letter to IHF president KPS Gill.
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/PDATOI/We_have_achievers_too_Carvalho/pdaarticleshow/2409994.cms

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Although all the hooplah got to my tits and even when all the insane cash prizes awarded the other day was very much expected, the reality of it is really sickening

For those unaware, the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India also happens to be the Food and Agricultural minister. The past couple of years has seen many cases of farmers, faced by immense poverty due to recurring loans, committing suicide. The government pledged immense amounts to wipe those debts out and yet there have been continued reports of those happening. But a victory in an International cricketing tournament and the dispatch of cash prizes is done at the drop of a hat

Aside from the larger perspective, the less larger perspective is that India, albeit unlikely, recently saw a string of successes in various other sports like hockey, football, billiards and more recently chess with Pankaj Advani being the World Billiards Champions and Vishy Anand winning the Chess Championship for the first time in 7 years

It's quite rubbish really, the sport is given attention till nauseum. Many are baffled as to why a country of a billion can't produce 11 good footballers. This is the exact reason. The state ain't poor, far off. It is infact insanely rich as you'd expect when you have a billions tax payers. But the distribution of funds when not hogged by the corrupt is very uneven and biased towards those who don't actually need it, i.e cricketers

You really got to feel for the rest. It is a very rubbish scenario, aided by the insane support cricket gets despite not being the best in the said sport officially for nearly a quarter of a century, especially considering it is the only sport which people are interested in. Off late things are easing off. I see many kids taking up football with the recent wave of European exposure and interest

Good gesture by the outside lot mind
 
The rewards handed out to the 20-20 team were ridiculous.
 
Yes, the amount of hype cricket gets in India is sickening. It nearly puts me off the sport. I enjoy watching cricket more when I'm outside India. The state of other better sports in India is quite sad. But unfortunately nothing will change unless more people start following other sports. And that's very unlikely to happen. For football, we'd need just a couple of players to make it big in Europe which doesn't look like happening.
 
Psmith said:
Yes, the amount of hype cricket gets in India is sickening. It nearly puts me off the sport. I enjoy watching cricket more when I'm outside India. The state of other better sports in India is quite sad. But unfortunately nothing will change unless more people start following other sports. And that's very unlikely to happen. For football, we'd need just a couple of players to make it big in Europe which doesn't look like happening.
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The shitloads the government spent on cash prizes for the cricketers alone is enough to fund the training of 11 promising youngsters at decent academies at least

You'd be very surprised to read this:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1205582.cms
 
Our Under-15 football team beat the Stuttgart u-16's 2-0.And also were unbeaten on the whole German tour recently.So there is talent.Sad how it is wasted here in India.
 
Salvation said:
The shitloads the government spent on cash prizes for the cricketers alone is enough to fund the training of 11 promising youngsters at decent academies at least

You'd be very surprised to read this:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1205582.cms
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Sadly I think all of them have returned back. Darren Caldeira was supposed to be the best of the 4.But now he is with Mahindra United and can't even get a game for them.
 
Cold_Boy said:
Our Under-15 football team beat the Stuttgart u-16's 2-0.And also were unbeaten on the whole German tour recently.So there is talent.Sad how it is wasted here in India.
Click to expand...

whoa
 
Kalinga boys lift U-14 Rugby World Cup

BANGALORE: Young tribal boys from Orissa have accomplished the almost impossible task of lifting the Under-14 World Rugby Cup in England on Saturday.

Students of the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences won the Under-14 International School Rugby Tournament held at London’s Scottish Rugby Club. India defeated South Africa by a margin 19-5.

The institute is managed by the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology University and is home to 5,000 tribal children, who receive free education, boarding and lodging facilities along with other basic amenities.
 
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