Collage of chaos
The dark side of Indian sport rears its ugly head now and then.
Just how often can you watch a run feast over 100 overs between India and Sri Lanka? It’s possible that the players on the two sides may have begun to think of one another as old classmates.
That may also explain why the edge of competition appeared to be missing when Dhoni's men in their first match of the year faced Sangakkara & Co, just like they did in their last match of last year. So it was natural that the mind wandered to other sports — and games — being played in the country, and got reassured that the anarchy has not abated one bit.
The sports ministry has ordered the National Rifle Association to conduct retrials for the Commonwealth Shooting Championship, to be held in Delhi from February 17 to 28. That will make it possible for Abhinav Bindra, Ronjan Sodhi and RVS Rathore to participate. The retrial would not have been necessary had the association been a little more accommodating. Instead, it decided to omit the three shooters, of which Bindra won the gold at Beijing Olympics, Rathore the silver in Athens, and Sodhi is a leading double-trap shooter. The ministry was also influenced by more than half a dozen shooters walking out of the previous trials because of erratic clay target throwing machines and poor infrastructure.
Indian club footballers have caught up a bit with their global counterparts, not in skill on the field but in notoriety off it. Odafa Okolie and others of Churchill Brothers allegedly tried to molest an airhostess and later had themselves photographed trying to cover their faces. On Friday, even as Okolie scored two goals to ensure a 2-2 draw against Mohun Bagan, spectators pelted him with missiles. The Football Players' Association of India has thrown its weight — whatever there is — behind the accused. According to the association, Okolie was talking to his teammates and while gesturing accidentally made contact with the air-hostess. Otherwise, he has “always shown impeccable behavior”.
Reports coming in late Friday evening said Indian hockey players had boycotted a training camp which was meant to prepare them for next month’s World Cup over non-payment of match fees. The players claim they are yet to receive their payments for the Champions Challenge I tournament in Argentina. Unless this issue gets resolved quickly, it may turn out to be a trifle inconvenient to a lot of people. The World Cup is scheduled to be held from February 28 to March 13 in New Delhi.
Still, our hockey players can draw solace by peeping across the border. Pakistan's Parliament has imposed heavy fines on members of its national hockey team for hugging a female liaison officer at the Champions Challenge tournament in Argentina last month. What’s more, they had themselves photographed in the ‘act’, didn't care to bury the photos in their secret bank vault, and went on to lose the tournament’s final, which cost them a place in the Champions Trophy.
(Suveen K Sinha is resident editor, Business Standard, New Delhi)