"Flying Sikh" Milkha Singh today lamented that "massive level of prominence" being given to cricket in India has sidelined other sports and blamed media for creating "hype" over the game.
He also appealed for a paradigm shift towards other games and application of the Chinese model of sports to spot and groom promising players at young age.
"Why will dedication exist in other sports when cricket is given such a massive level of prominence? Why else have there been no major forces to be reckoned with in other sporting fields for all these years?," Singh said while launching the mascot for forthcoming Portuguese Commonwealth Games, along with Tennis legend Sania Mirza, here.
"For this, much of the blame has to be apportioned to media," the former track and field sprinter said.
He observed that the need of the hour was athletes and coaches to be genuinely interested in their sport of choice and following it up with "justified amount of dedication".
"Furthermore, a serious amount of planning has to go into athletic events. This, I believe, can be incorporated from a very young age, beginning with the development of all India school games," Singh said.
He proposed that coaches be hired on a contractual basis to train promising athletes for the future and tight deadlines be put in place indicating how and when their performance may be assessed.
The common perception to blame government alone for the plight of other sports be stopped, Singh said.
"There are several independent sports bodies that require to step up their game, and take notice of the fine example that China has set in terms of sports development. If this model can be replicated, I believe the future will be very bright indeed," the iconic athlete said.
"If incentives are provided to athletes and coaches, they may work as a motivation for them. Also today's coaches are not as dedicated and sincere," he lamented.
