Hockey: Why discriminate against our national game?

There is nothing wrong in rewarding our cricketers for winning the Twenty20 World Cup; but there is something wrong in treating our hockey players as children of a lesser God for winning the Asia Cup 2007. After all, is not hockey our national game?

DID INDIA do justice by rewarding its hockey players who won the Asia Cup 2007? Is India giving importance to its national game? Recently, in the (cricket) Twenty20 World Cup, we witnessed India register a marvellous victory against Pakistan. The Indian team was rewarded generously with Rupees 8 crores, for the victory.

Cricket is a game that commands wide spectatorship all over the country. Die-hard fans may compromise on anything to watch their piece of the match! Well, as we all know, it is a game that was introduced to India by the British. In short, it is a legacy from the colonial period. There is no other game in India which boasts of such huge fan following.

Well and good! Our players played for India, won, made us proud and reaped huge sums of money. Congratulations! The members of the team were given a hearty welcome when they returned to the country. Each State celebrated the victory in its own way.

There were even people who spent the whole day in temples praying for the success of the Indian team. Although decades have passed since its introduction, we forget that cricket is not a game that was brought to us. It is in fact a residue left behind.

Well, let us now have a look at the hockey matches held recently. Hockey is the national game of India. It is a game Indians are proud of. But compared to cricket, it enjoys a poor fan following.

Hardly a ‘handful’ of spectators watch a hockey match; there is little promotion of the national game of the country. It is a shame indeed on our countrymen. And what about the reward the hockey play-ers get? The players received a mere 2 lakh rupees per head after some hustle and bustle that one normally associates with the marketplace.

India beat South Korea by an awesome 7-2 margin. But the players were not given their due a la the cricketers. Did not they deserve more? Why the hustle and bustle preceded the reward?

Why is it that this trend is still obtaining in India? Why it is that Indians find it difficult to accept the ‘wealth’ of their own country and always hanker after the residue the British, once the invaders our country, left behind?

If the cricket team could be paid a huge sum of rupees 8 crores, then is not the hockey team worth at least rupees 1 crore? This is a point to be pondered over. We should love our own country first and then the other countries. We should give more importance to our national games. After all it is our mother that comes first in importance.

Every game involves toil, hard work and dedication. Every-one deserves to be rewarded in the same degree. Let us all give a thought to this.

Is the national game of India important to us or is the game that was imported from some other country important to us?

Easy pickings for India in 2009 T20 World Cup

Defending champions India were today placed in an easy group A — alongside Bangladesh and Zimbabwe — for the 2009 ICC Twenty20 cricket World Championships in England.

The grouping for the second edition of the event was decided in a two-day ICC Board meeting, which concluded here today.

The early decision on the matter was taken on the request of hosts England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), who want to proceed with the venue event bidding process which would allow match tickets to go on sale at the earliest.

Since not enough matches have been played in the shortest format of the game to allow viable official rankings, the Board decided to group teams on the basis of their finishing positions in the inaugural edition of the championship this year.

ODI world champions Australia have been placed in group C along with Sri Lanka and West Indies.

The Groups:

Group A: India, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe

Group B: Pakistan, England, Associate 1

Group C: Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies

Malik promises inspired performance from Pakistan

Ahead of the high-voltage tour to India, Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik today vowed to make-up for the disappointing home series loss to South Africa by winning the series against their arch-rivals.

The Pakistan cricket squad leaves tomorrow for what is expected to be a highly charged and exciting tour of India with Malik promising an inspired performance from his players.

“We know people are disappointed at the way we lost the final one-dayer to South Africa and also the series. But we also know a repeat performance against India will not be acceptable to the people,” Malik said a day before the scheduled departure from Lahore to Delhi.

Pakistan will play five ODIs and three Test matches with the first one-day international scheduled in Guwahati on November 5.

“We all felt bad at the way we had gifted the match to South Africa and we want to make amends in India,” Malik said.

The young Pakistan captain assured he had played enough international cricket to be able to handle the pressures that comes with an Indian tour.

“I have played against India and been there before, so I know what it is all about. So I am not going to take any extra pressure on this tour. We had a brain storming session yesterday and we all know that whether we play India or any other team we have to give our best,” he said.

Malik said he was disappointed at losing the home series to South Africa but dispelled the impression that his team, still trying to establish themselves in international cricket, could not handle the pressure in the big matches.

“Look we handled the pressure games in the Twenty20 World Cup. The final was a close affair and it could have gone either way,” Malik said.

“Even against South Africa we came back to level the series 2-2 and controlled 90 percent of the game but lost because of irresponsible and poor cricket. I am confident my players can handle the pressure well in India.”

Pakistan has picked a 16-member squad for the five one-day games in India. The squad include three openers, Imran Nazir, Salman Butt and Yasir Hameed with Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akmal also having opened against South Africa.

Malik conceded the form of openers would be the key to the performance in India.

“If the openers do well we have the depth in our middle and lower order to get big scores. I am counting that since the pitches are similar in Pakistan and India the openers will settle down quickly and get the runs.”

Critics, however, remain sceptical pointing out that Nazir, Butt and Yasir have all failed in recent matches and they also question the necessity of taking three specialist openers to India for a five-match series when this job can be done by Afridi and Akmal.

Malik said if required even he was not shy of opening and would bat at any position for his team.

Younis Khan named vice-captain today for the tour said that in India bowlers and batsmen can both do well.

“They use the SG balls which grip well and help the pacers and spinners well while the pitches are good for the batsmen as well. Once you settle in you can get runs. So it should be an evenly contested series,” Younis said.