Big sporting decisions await in the new year
The folly of prediction is its usual lack of accuracy. Yet, every year we wake up and take this perilous journey. The year just past had almost been great on the field, but off it the year was punctuated with embarrassment and controversies. In 2024, the focus will again be on how India performs at two of the biggest stages. In terms of passion, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup tops it all. In terms of gauging India’s standing as a sporting nation, it is the Paris Olympics.
The bigger challenge, however, will be for the Indian Cricket Board. India’s most prolific opener in the white ball formats, Rohit Sharma, will be 37 in April. The all-format captain already is in the twilight of his career. He has not played T20 internationals since November 2022. He captained India at the ODI World Cup, where the team finished runners-up after winning 10 games.
Middle-order batter and hard-hitting all-rounder Hardik Pandya has replaced him as the Mumbai Indians captain in this season’s IPL. A change of guard in Indian cricket is considered more of an emotional task than a practical endeavour. It needs to be seen if the BCCI will announce Sharma’s successor before the World Cup.
The BCCI knows that a new captain should get enough time to settle down before a big event. Then there is the decision on India’s greatest all-format batter Virat Kohli, who, at 35, is not growing younger. Whether he will be part of the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and US needs to be seen. That brings us to another Herculean task—bidding for the 2036 Olympics.
The prime minister announced at the Mumbai IOC session that India would bid. Now, according to the IOC, though there is no time frame to initiate the process of bidding, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the government have to show intent and initiate dialogues with the IOC. For that, the IOA needs to present the bid, and for that to happen they have to appoint a CEO, which the IOC had been insisting on.
India needs to show that they too can win medals at the Olympics. Paris could be the stage to turn the country’s fortunes into Olympic sports. Medals in double figures would help boost the rising stature of sports in the country. Here is hoping for a decisive 2024.