Why 2017 will be a year of change for Indian sport
The word “offseason” in sport generally has to do with players taking a break and getting energy back for the next year. In a sport like tennis, players cannot even wait for the year to end as the next calendar season kickstarts as early as the first Monday. This time, it happens to be January 2, 2017.
In India, it seems, the word “off-season” is the time when officials seem to go into an overdrive and do something crazy which, in turn, can get them headlines.
Nothing else exemplifies this better than the Indian Olympic Association’s annual general body meeting in Chennai going ahead and announcing Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Chautala as Life Presidents of the IOA.
Anyone familiar with Indian sport knows the IOA is India’s largest post office or courier agency whose job generally is to forward names of athletes for major Games abroad. It could be the Olympics, Asian Games or the Commonwealth Games.
In between, they hold meetings once in a while and discuss everything other than sport. The IOA meetings are all about playing games and well known officials hankering for what junkets or jaunts they can get next.
Rarely has an IOA meeting been called for discussing the poor performance of India at the Olympics. And this holds true for Rio 2016 as well since the IOA has not done any fact finding till now. That job has been left to the national sports federations, the sports ministry, and the Sports Authority of India.
So, what was the real reason behind the IOA, headed by shrewd president N Ramachandran, deciding to do one good act by elevating Kalmadi and Chautala as Life Presidents. Kalmadi certainly did not ask for this favour and Chautala’s press statement gives the impression that he is not averse to taking up this titular post, subject to the International Olympic Committee not objecting to it!
We all know, Kalmadi and Chautala have been chargesheeted in different cases, and are out on bail. So, either Ramachandran thought nobody would be offended if he could please both Kalmadi and Chautala in one go or he thought this move would go unnoticed.
To be sure, one has to praise the sports ministry for expressing its displeasure and making it clear there is no scope for charge-sheeted officials to come back into the IOA fold.
The IOA is also in vacation mode, as it takes no decision unless Ramachandran addresses it. So, their reply to the showcause issued by the sports ministry is also waiting. Eventually, the IOA has no choice but to overturn the decision to name Kalmadi and Chautala as Life Presidents.
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| IOA president N Ramachandran’s act of defiance has not been received well by sports minister Vijay Goel. (Photo: PTI) |
Just as the IOA deals with the mess it has created, the Board of Control for Cricket in India is waiting to see what decision the Supreme Court takes on January 3 regarding the Justice RM Lodha panel recommendations.
The BCCI spent the whole of 2016 dilly dallying and wasting time. The writing is on the wall. The BCCI will have no choice and has to eventually follow the guidelines laid down by the Lodha panel. The same applies for the state cricket associations.
And with some former athletes also now moving the Supreme Court, in 2017 one cannot rule out the possibility of other national sports federations also having to fall in line with tough guidelines. It could be the same as prescribed for the BCCI.
Coming back to the main sporting arena, after an Olympic year, the following year is not so intense. The routine events like Grand Slams in tennis, Formula One season, football calendar, the IPL and other sporting events have their dates ticked on the calendar.
India will be hosting the FIFA under-17 World Cup at six venues and the state of preparations is not clear. The less said, the better about what the Indian team is doing now to hone its skills.
In cricket, after Australia come in the early part of 2017 for a Test series, the focus will be on the ICC Champions Trophy in England. The kind of run which Virat Kohli had in 2016 was phenomenal. He scored runs in Tests and ODIs with aplomb. Whether Kohli can reproduce this kind of form in 2017 remains to be seen.
ODI skipper MS Dhoni certainly needs Kohli to fire in the Champions Trophy. One is not sure about what kind of a calendar lies ahead in the next cricket season. Most of it will be away tours and Kohli needs to show the same kind of skill in batting and also leading the side in the Test series. After all, playing at home and away in varying conditions is as different as cheese and chalk.
Basically, the year 2017 is a year of rebuilding for Indian sport. There are no major assignments in Olympic sport, though the FIH world league final will be held next December.
In Indian sport, we have this habit of relying on the same old lot again and again. The New Year should hopefully see fresh talent being nurtured, with the winds of change already blowing.
In tennis, for example, Mahesh Bhupathi will be leading the Davis Cup squad as non-playing captain after Anand Amritraj's farewell tie in February.
Hopefully, there will be more changes in other sporting disciplines as well at home. After all, sport minus change and innovations gets boring.
Happy New Year.
(Courtesy of Mail Today.)