Kabaddi… Kabaddi… Kabaddi…

Domestic leagues aren’t doing any good for national sports

The English Premier League hosts some of the best footballers the world over. In the recently concluded FIFA World cup England was the only team to have every player in its squad affiliated to one or the other EPL club. They had some of the best names in the business and multi million contracts that did more than justice to their skills. The end result, the British team could not break the jinx of winning the most coveted sporting trophy in 52 years. Marquee names like Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Lionel Messi of Argentina have shelves full of Spanish Premier league accomplishments, but don’t have a National title to their name.

In the year 2007, the inaugural ICC T20 World cup changed the landscape of Twenty20 cricket across the world. India who was rank outsider - with a barely any domestic T20 setup in the country owing to BCCI apathy – lifted the title beating arch rivals Pakistan.

That year also saw the launch of the most extravagant sporting league the Indian Premier League (IPL), which opened doors to the World to compete alongside India's T20 champions. In the following tournaments Pakistan, England, West Indies (twice) and Sri Lanka won it and India never regained the World T20 title.

Going into the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia, India had never lost a single men’s Kabaddi match at the Games. India had won the men's Kabaddi gold in all the earlier seven Asiad after the sport was introduced in 1990 in Beijing. Earlier last week, that record was broken when they lost a group stage match to South Korea, the team somehow reached the quarters. However, that loss did not prove to be an aberration all fans had hoped for, as Iran pulled off a massive upset, beating the seven-time defending champions 18-27 in the semi-final. India will now have to settle for bronze alongside Pakistan who lost to South Korea in the other semifinal.

It’s pertinent to note that the Pro Kabaddi League, a professional-level Kabaddi league in India, was launched in 2014 with much fanfare. From the first year the sport garnered massive following and soon waning viewers on TV away from the much-maligned cricket viewership. The doors were opened to international players to participate alongside the Indian stalwarts. Pro Kabaddi regulars South Korea's Jang Kun Lee and Lee Dong Geon, and Iranian defenders Fazel Atracheli and Abozar Mighani knew the Indian game much better now.

The Indian team which had PKL stars like Ajay Thakur, Pardeep Narwal, Rahul Chaudhari, Deepak Niwas Hooda, Mohit Chhillar, Sandeep Narwal will return home without the Asian Games Gold and soon lock horns again in the professional league. 

Is professionalism killing the sportsmen’s national aspirations?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pics Courtesy: Internet

Heartbreak at Edgbaston!

The team is as good as the captain is, the oft repeated cliché does not hold good now. Here was a skipper who played out of his skin and gave it everything in both innings to make a match out of it. Skipper Virat Kohli single handedly held the Indian batting afloat in the face of some pathetic spineless display by the much over rated top and middle order of Shikar Dhawan, KL Rahul and the now-almost-over-the-hill Ajinkya Rahane. Not that the Tamil Nadu duo of Murali Vijay or Dinesh Karthik did much with the bat either.  

To begin with, it was baffling to see the reliable No. 3 Cheteshwar Pujara being dropped in favour of a T20 specialist Rahul, and Playing on a dry English wicket with 4 seamers? Indian think tank led by a sleeping-in-public Ravi Shastri has a few explanations to make. It surely was great game of cricket. A hard fought win for the home team. Spare a thought for the Indian bowling attack, they did well almost throughout, barring the early celebration-leading-to-complacency at the fall of the 7th English wicket in the 2nd Innings. From 87/7 Sam Curran, Adil Rashid and Stuart Broad together added close to 90 invaluable runs that made the eventual Target of 194 much stiffer than a possible 120 that India were eyeing for a likely fourth innings clincher.

The Edgbaston wicket, unlike many of the Indian wickets will not come under scrutiny, but the 32 run win will not be a cushion for England as they move to the 2nd Test.

Among the positives, Kohli apart, the bowling of Ashwin, Ishant Sharma and Shami will have to be strengthened with the addition of either Kuldeep Yadav or Ravindra Jadeja. The latter will come in handy as a lower order batsman too. Time to rethink the combination for the Mecca of Cricket. Lord's London beckons - Can India square the series? 

______________________________________________________________

Pic: Internet