CRICKET IS OVERHYPED IN INDIA

The ICC Cricket world cup is going to begin in a few days. 19th feb India faces Bangladesh on their home turf in Dhaka in the opening match of the tournament. The tournament would go on till April 2. After a hectic world cup for the players they do need some rest. But then here comes the IPL. After a hectic world cup, the players have to face the music again in the 2nd week of April, when the IPL is expected to begin.
This crony capitalism in cricket is rampant. There is so much money involved in the game that the important issue of the fitness of the players is sidelined. No wonder cricket is overhyped in India. It is practiced like a religion and the players are adulated like Gods. And then when they lose matches they are brought down into the abyss in no time. The photographs of the players are laden with slippers and are burnt. This unreasonably silly behavior of the Indian mob towards the game gives some people the opportunity to exploit it and make big money. The IPL is an unnecessary appendage to the already hectic ICC calendar. That makes up for filling the pockets of players and their bosses in the BCCI.
The condition of the players playing games other than cricket is not so rosy. There are talented players starving for funds in almost every game. The commonwealth game in Delhi which was full of scams and under preparation was a good indication of what infrastructure do other games get in India. If it were for the IPL and not CWG, the organization would have been without any blemishes. This reflects the attitude which the country has towards other games. Australia, U.S.A. and China are sporting nations. People play sport there. People win Olympic medals for their country. We in India are a cricketing nation. We play cricket. We play IPL. We make money. We are so obsessed with one game that winning loads of medals in Olympics seems to be a distant dream for us.
What needs to be done? It is not wrong to be passionate about a game like cricket. But it is definitely not such a great thing to ignore other games which most of the countries of the world play. We watch football but we rank abysmally low to even dream of making it to the final 32 who play the world cup. We get peanuts in the Olympics. The thing which we lack in our country is interest. We are passionate about cricket but not even interested in playing other games. And that is because we do not win in other games, we do not watch those. This is a cycle. When we start winning, the country starts watching. So what we need is a start. First of all infrastructure, funds, facilities for the games and the encouragement is needed so that the players start playing the game with motivation and passion. The finally not-so-bad CWG in India were a good start. That initiative should not be lost now. The CWG village can be used by Indian players. The opportunity is there for the taking for the players now. Losing it will not be a wise thing to do.