Let’s look at cricket through a child’s eyes, right at the beginner’s level, age six or seven. In terms of team sport you experience, football — in which you would normally play every time you turn up at practice — is running around and kicking a ball. You get to wear colourful shirts, with different names on the backs. (Lionel) Messi one day, (Cristiano) Ronaldo the next. Then there’s cricket: which at the start doesn’t even seem natural. You have to stand sideways holding a bat and even when given a ball, you cannot throw it. Throw, you are told, is a very bad word. When getting into sport, it is hardly surprising that you will find football more attractive.
“….What is the modern parent’s view of this situation? They look at cricket and say that’s a lot of time away from home. For which their son or daughter could spend hours waiting for a turn to bat or merely sitting because they have been dismissed early. What I am trying to say here is that our world, particularly in the big cities, has changed dramatically. It means cricket’s own appeal to both children and parents has changed considerably. The generation when you could say that ‘every Indian baby is born with a cricket bat in the hand’ is well behind us. I feel that strongly because I can see more Indian children in the cities taking up other sports. Cricket is not their first game anymore.”
Thus spoke Rahul Dravid at the MAK Pataudi lecture in Mumbai earlier this month. This broadly tells you the story as 2016 approaches us. Cricket, which has been synonymous with life to many of us, especially for the ones born in 80s and 90s isn’t the only sport for kids growing up. India is growing, and so have options and field of expertise. We might not be a great sporting nation when it comes to the Olympics or FIFA World Cup, but we’re taking steps in the right direction.
Commercial Factor
What has led to such a drastic change among kids and parents? Ten years ago it would have been unthinkable to even give space to the thought that cricket isn’t the only game that kids prefer in India. But, it has changed. In a country where Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli show up on television screens endorsing different products every other second, now you see a galaxy of stars from other sports. Tata, one of the country’s biggest-ever brands, has chosen to go with four time World player of the year Lionel Messi to endorse their product in a country which is ranked 166th in FIFA world rankings.
That athletes from other sports are posing competition to cricketers is good sign of the progress that India is making. In India’s top-tier cities, football and badminton have become a definite option for the middle-class. Market researchers and advertisers feel the lack of worldwide heroes in cricket has led them to look elsewhere. “Cricket has always had supserstars. Tendulkar was big and then came Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. But without Tendulkar cricket is limping. Why? Because now you don’t have an Indian cricketer who is a superstar worldwide. Saina Nehwal, Messi, Ronaldo are worldwide stars now and that is what is needed to promote sport. And take any kid in metros they have all gone European. They follow Barcelona, Manchester United and European teams,” reflects noted ad guru Prahlad Kakkar.
Greener Pastures
That other sports have taken the same route as cricket in commercialising the sport has also played a role. In households, evenings are spent watching a variety of events with various disciplines presenting the viewer with a lot of action. “Once you become commercial, you will drag eyeballs. To attract a kid, you need to make a sport spectator-friendly. Football, badminton and kabaddi have done that and thats why you find the kids glued to television all the time. When you present them action, they will watch it invariably,” Kakkar said.
The market is just a reflection of the present environment as various sports have caught up with cricket. What appeals to the audience is what matters. Private cricket academies in Mumbai and Delhi still witness huge numbers during summer camps, but the difference is other sports also find so many takers.
“Cricket has become an expensive game now when compared to football and hockey. Even today you’ll find a lot of kids in cricket camps. But now you’re seeing lot of kids in badminton and football camps as well and that is a good sign for the country. What mattes is how many of them play cricket in the streets. Earlier it used to be just cricket. Now you find them playing badminton, tennis, kabaddi and football,” said former India cricketer Balwinder Singh Sandhu, who now runs an academy in Mumbai.
What Lies Ahead
For a country like India, which had very few role models in sports, there has been a steady increase. Sania Mirza, Saina, PV Sindhu, Mary Kom, Sarita Devi have inspired many girls and so have Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang and Jitu Rai. That in a Olympic year, India is chasing a double-digit medal haul speaks volumes about the modern trend.
“Cricket is still the front-runner. But the big thing now is there are a lot of options. More role models have come out in recent times and you find kids naturally attracted to a sport. In the recent shooting nationals there was a record entry. Shooting isn’t spectator friendly. But youngsters are taking up shooting because we’re winning something all the time and the media has also started to present these events in a bigger way. It is a mark of a mature sporting nation. With so many leagues around, it is not about becoming an international athlete. You can be successful domestically and earn a good living too,” observed Viren Rasquinha, former India hockey captain and CEO of Olympic Gold Quest.
With Olympics next year who knows there might be new role models in new sport inspiring kids to a new discipline. Cricket may still remain the main sport, but with new heroes the conscience of the nation may change.
Screen Play
Cricket continued to rule the roost over the Indian sporting landscape in the last year but there was a difference. TV slots weren’t booked with hours and hours of cricket shot in the black and white era. For 2015 saw the emergence of a number of other performers across other sports. Here, Express takes a look at the sports that made a difference in the last 365 days...
Badminton
Saina Nehwal appeared on our TV screens as a genuine gamechanger all those years back and now the sport is having its second wind thanks to a new wave of radical upstarts, who made headlines for the right reasons. The Pullela Gopichand Academy has gone from strength to strength, while
the country’s premier players are bonafide medal contenders at the upcoming Rio de Janiero. There is also a sea change in how the sport is being repackaged for the consumers. All the world’s big shuttle events are being beamed live, with repeat telecasts running till the wee hours of the morning. Badminton Association of India have also brought back Pro Badminton League (PBL) in a new avatar, underscoring its new found commercial value.
Tennis
The sport has always found decent patronage in the Indian sub-continent but Sania Mirza’s achievements over the last 18 months has meant that tennis has received more coverage than ever before. The mushrooming of off-season exos – Champions Tennis League (CTL) and International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) – has meant that it has stayed on the back pages even when nothing has happened. It may be an expensive game to play but that hasn’t stopped youngsters and their parents from investing in it. The contours seem to be changing from ‘who after Leander?’ to ‘could he/she be India’s next breakout star?’ The ATP and the ITF, aware of the recent change, have made a conscious effort to increase the number of Futures and Challengers held here.
Football
While the national team continued to frustrate the desi fan, the growing popularity of foreign leagues has meant expanding HD and SD channels across most sports channels. Sony bought the rights to telecast La Liga while Star quickly made up for that by buying the rights to broadcast all Bundesliga channels. That quasi war is likely to intensify when Premier League is up for auction in India.
Franchise-based Leagues
Ever since the success of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Indian administrators haven’t been shy to throw money at similar spin-offs. And 2015 was no different, what with the birth of the Pro Wrestling League. The critically acclaimed Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) even took the landmark decision to have two seasons of the league in one year from 2016. Another indication smartly packaged primetime entertainment is here to stay. Even Hockey India League has been hugely popular with plenty of foreign stars in action.
Golf
The most improved sport in the country in terms of the number of people playing it? While that is a hypothetical question to say the least, golf really has seen been at the forefront of positive change. Anirban Lahiri may have been the sport’s most impressive performer but there have been a lots of others as well. More people playing golf is a trickle-down effect of India’s ever improving economy but it is hard to deny that all of them are clubbing just because they can afford it. Aditi Ashok is the latest example.
Boxing
MC Mary Kom continues to remain an inspiration for millions but it was Vijender Singh’s decision to go professional that grabbed eyeballs. The move created all sorts of hype, with people even accusing him of chasing the proverbial money train instead of the Olympics but he seems to have been vindicated so far. Even otherwise, Indian boxers have gone from strength to strength in their search for excellence on the global stage.