For every rose that blooms, a hundred ones wither : Dark side of Indian cricket

[Smith]

You also have the right to not reply to my post like 90% of the forum members do.

Lol, will take the advice for posts in future.

 

[Sanz]

There is also this huge disparity between cricket and other sports in India. Sure, not everybody can be an outstanding cricketer, or an outstanding engineer for that matter, but an outstanding sportsman can be easily left in the woods when a nation is so obsessed with a single sport.

There is plenty of interest for other sports and sportsperson in India. Take for example Mahesh Bhupathi, Leander Paes, Sania Mirza, Vishwanathan Anand, Jeev Milkha Singh, Bhutia, Saina Nehwal etc. to name a few. Many Indians are very intrested in Indian Hockey as well and follow the progress with great intrest, we also take a lot of pride in it only to get denied any kind of decent competition, thanks to the corruption and ineptitude of the Indian Hockey Federation.

Fact is, Except Cricket every other sporting body in India is marred by corruption and dirty politics.

 

[Sanz]

So do you really think that any of what we discuss in other threads "solve" issues prevalent? I decided to open this thread because I was aghast at the tragedy of these guys. Also because I read somewhere that among sportsmen, cricketers have the highest suicide rate.

If you are opening a thread for discussion, please be ready for discussion/argument. I never suggested that you shouldn't open the thread or not discuss the issue. I was merely stating my opinion. While the deaths are tragic, IMO it is wrong to blame the sport or call it as the 'murky' world of cricket or something like that.

Yes, it might be common for all sports, but in the western countries, sport is rewarding even at the lower levels that one need not be Micheal Jordan to make a living out of it.

First of all you can not compare Western countries with India secondly you are wrong. For example in Basketball, if you dont make it to NBA/CBA etc or get injured during your NCAA years, you dont make anything. You will certainly not make anything if you are average/mediocre.

In India, in cricket, one has to make it atleast to the FC level to be guaranteed survival. There is hardly any sustainable cricket at levels under it. And how many cricketers can FC system support at best? 400? And how many kids plunge into cricket following the examples of Yuvraj and Dhoni every year? Must be 100 times that. It is a complete black or white, make or break world as far as cricket in India is concerned. You make it, you are a millionaire, you don't? You are a pauper. It is also noteworthy that unlike other countries, these people most often than not, do not have a second source of income to support their endeavour.

I dont understand what you are trying to argue here. Doy ou know How many students appear for IAS/IIT etc ? Do you know how many people succeed and the success ratio ?

 

[Smith]

There is plenty of interest for other sports and sportsperson in India. Take for example Mahesh Bhupathi, Leander Paes, Sania Mirza, Vishwanathan Anand, Jeev Milkha Singh, Bhutia, Saina Nehwal etc. to name a few. Many Indians are very intrested in Indian Hockey as well and follow the progress with great intrest, we also take a lot of pride in it only to get denied any kind of decent competition, thanks to the corruption and ineptitude of the Indian Hockey Federation.

Fact is, Except Cricket every other sporting body in India is marred by corruption and dirty politics.

Ok. But barring Vishy Anand and perhaps the tennis duo, not one champion player is there. Bhutia at best made it to the second division in the English Football structure. Bhupathi and Paes were doubles players. Of course the following is there, but it is not a patch on cricket. Take 100 Indians and ask who Tendulkar is, atleast 80 of them would swear by him. Asked about Vishy Anand, I don't think more than 10 would recollect the name.

Hockey had it's heydays till the 80s, and has been on a steady decline ever since. Not that the pathetic performances of the Indian team has helped it either. ESPN Star boldly tried to finance a NHL (National Hockey League) some years back, in IPL style (much before that though), by bringing in players from different nations together in some 8 teams, but it hardly generated any news. The league was dismantled after the second season, which was such a shame.

Not eve