Citizens demand reforms in sports bodies, departments for better performance in next Olympics

August 23, 2016

New Delhi, Aug 23: Eighty-six percent citizens believe induction of accomplished sportsmen in various sports bodies will significantly improve selection and training of players

olymNinety-two percent citizens believe funds misuse and corruption is common in State Sports Departments and Bodies

Eighty-nine percent citizens believe that sufficient efforts have not been made by Government of India in last decade to promote sports (beyond cricket)

Winning medals in Olympics is not just about sports it affects the collective spirit of the Nation. India won just one silver and one bronze medal in the Rio Olympics that concluded today but the whole nation cheered.

Beyond the low count of medals that we got the nation cheered the performance of every participant who even got close to winning one.

The aspirations of the nation are high in all areas we have the youngest population of any country and the pride of a nation is built on performance in mega sporting events like Olympics.

Our poor performance is already being analysed by critics and experts but the root cause is not being addressed.

Therefore, LocalCircles a citizen engagement platform did a study on the problems that we face in improving our status as a sporting nation.

Olympic level sports person are not built overnight, it is a continuous process and requires time and effort. Sports bodies are expected to identify the right talent, at the right age, support and train them to Olympic level.

Unfortunately, our sports bodies are not able to do this with the same rigour, barring a few exceptions like badminton. The reason is that most sporting bodies are led by non-sportsmen and bureaucrats who have never played at international levels.

The politicisation of Indian sports is the root cause for the country not being able to create world class athletes. People are also tired of the political interference in sports.

Therefore, the obvious question is to revamp the sports bodies in various disciplines in the country. Inducting world class sportsmen at all levels in a sports organisation, so that they can help build a culture that promotes, trains and build world class talent.

An overwhelming majority of 86 percent people said in the poll that sports bodies should be headed and controlled by sportspersons. This clearly shows that India wants that to prepare for the next Olympics we should begin with restructuring our sports bodies.

Corruption was another issue that is endemic in sports bodies due to political interference, nepotism and lack of performance measures. A poor performance in the Olympics does not lead to any action against existing staff due to nepotism. Ninety-two percent of the citizen's perception is that corruption is very high in State sports department and bodies. This perception may also be the reason that most people do not see sports as a worthwhile option for their children.

Eight-nine percent of the citizens also feel that the government has not done much to make sports other than cricket popular in the country.

This perception also fuels the charge that the government does not make enough efforts in promoting performance and merit in sports per-se. Please see the polls below and the crowd sourced inputs from the citizens below.

Crowd sourced citizen inputs on how the state of sports can be improved in India:

The political influence and participation from the sports bodies should be completely eliminated

The sports bodies should only be headed by sportsmen who have played at national and international levels

Investments should be made on improving people's interest in not-so-popular sports

National/international level athletes should be given free medical care

More sports injury rehabilitation centers should be opened in different parts of the country

Training facilities of international standards should be provided to our athletes

Investments should be made in taking the sports infrastructure to international levels

Parents should be counselled that their children can make a career in sports too

Good media coverage should be done around other sports except cricket to make them popular

National athletes should be given some monthly stipend to take care of their daily expenses

They should also be given well-paying jobs so that they can concentrate on training and don't have to worry about running a family

Coaches should be selected after a thorough test and they should be reviewed on a strict matrix bi-annually

Coaches should also be trained on developing a career plan for the students

Government should invest in opening quality sports academies with the vision of producing national/international level sports persons

All sports academies should have good hostel facilities for the students

Selection for teams should be completely based on performance

Government should tie up with private players to run sports education and training colleges

Sports bodies should be closely monitored by the Government

All sports bodies must have at least 50% accomplished ex-sports players on their board

The entire player selection process should be transparent and have zero discretion

It should be made mandatory for the schools to have a playground

Special schemes should be announced by the Government for girls who want to pursue sports as a career option

All government schools should have good coaches for various sports like tennis, badminton hockey, kabaddi, football etc.

The gap between money allocations made by the Government and it actually reaching the sports persons should be reduced by implementing transparent processes and systems

Government should give scholarships to the achievers and support them with training, scholarship and medical assistance

The private sector should also follow the Government enterprises in offering jobs to sports persons

The Government could give tax exemption to private sector for investment in sports/games

The tenure of heading such bodies by a person should be limited to maximum two years

A policy should be devised for grading of sports persons based on their annual performance during that year and a rank system is to be maintained at State, Central, International level against each sports discipline and they should be provided financial and training help basing on their rank

Corporates should be encouraged to sponsor different non-cricket sports players and teams and participate in various competitions beyond cricket

Government must consider establishing a National University of Sports & Games

Government may consider opening CSR for development of sports players

Sports Ministry should financially support holding of more and more international events in India in as many disciplines of sports as possible.

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News Network
May 15,2020

New Delhi, May 15: Former England skipper David Gower feels Sourav Ganguly has the right "political skills" to lead the ICC one day and he has already displayed that as BCCI president, which is a "far tougher job".

The elegant left-hander is very impressed with Ganguly's leadership abilities and believes that he has what it takes to head the global body in the future.

"One thing I have learnt over the years is that if you are going to run BCCI, you need to be many, many things. Having a reputation like he (Ganguly) has is a very good start, but you need to be a very deft politician.

"You need to have control of a million different things," Gower said ahead of "Q20", a unique chat show for the fans presented by 'GloFans'.

Gower reckons being president of the BCCI is the toughest job imaginable in world cricket.

"And of course, you need to be responsible for a game that is followed by, I mean, should we say a billion people here in India," he said.

"We all know about the immense following for cricket in India. So it is indeed a wonderful thing to behold. Sourav has the toughest task imaginable in charge of BCCI, but so far I would say the signs are very good.

"He has listened, given his own opinion and has pulled strings gently," he said.

Political skills are a must in administration and that's where Gower finds his fellow left-hander ticking all the boxes.

"He is a very, very good man and has those political skills. He has the right attitude and can keep things together and will do good job. And if you do a good job as BCCI chief in the future, who knows?

"But I would actually say the more important job, to be honest, is running BCCI. Being head of ICC is an honour, there is a lot that can be done by ICC, but actually look at the rankings, look at where the power is heading up. BCCI is definitely the bigger job," he said.

On the cricketing front, Gower believes World Test Championship has given the format much-needed context.

"The idea of this World Test Championship has come about for one very simple reason that people are worried about the survival of Tests. Back in the seventies, eighties, I don't think we needed context to be fair.

"Test cricket was very much more obviously the most important format and if there was anything to be judged by, it was the performances in Test matches both as an individual and as a team.

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News Network
March 2,2020

Mar 2: Indian captain Virat Kohli was left frustrated and deflated as New Zealand won the second Test inside three days in Christchurch on Monday to sweep the series.

India started the day at 90 for six and were all out for 124, before New Zealand chased down the required 132 to win for the loss of three wickets in 36 overs.

It ended a disappointing tour for India and Kohli as New Zealand, who won the first Test by 10 wickets early on day four, wrapped up the series with ease.

New Zealand are now unbeaten in their last 13 home Tests, winning nine of them, and in the past decade their record as hosts is played 39, won 20, drawn 13 and lost five.

In the latest series, on traditional New Zealand green wickets, India managed scores of 165, 191, 242 and 124, reflecting the low contributions from Kohli of 2, 19, 3 and 14.

Kohli came to New Zealand as the world's top Test batsman and oozing charm as he described New Zealand as the “nice guys” of cricket.

But during the series he lost his top ranking to Australian Steve Smith and when Kane Williamson went for three in the first innings of the second Test the pressure showed when he gave the New Zealand skipper a very animated send-off.

There was further evidence of frustration when he was caught on camera yelling an obscenity at a group of New Zealand supporters on Sunday.

The end came quickly for India on day three as Tim Southee and Trent Boult tormented the batsmen with their variety of inswing and outswing deliveries targeting both sides of the stumps.

Hanuma Vihari was the first to fall, in Southee's second over, when he turned a legside delivery too fine and was caught by BJ Watling diving to his left.

Five balls later and with no addition to the score, India's other overnight batsman Rishabh Pant was caught behind off a Boult delivery that swung away.

Mohammed Shami was caught for five by Tom Blundell at deep mid-wicket and Jasprit Bumrah was run out when trying to give the strike to Ravindra Jadeja, who was unbeaten on 16.

Boult and Southee signed for most of the dismissals with Boult taking four for 28 and Southee three for 36. The swing pair accounted for 25 of the 40 Indian wickets in the series.

There was enough seam and swing available for India to keep the New Zealand batsmen guessing but Bumrah and Umesh Yadav were unable to apply consistent pressure and Mohammed Shami was troubled by a sore shoulder.

New Zealand coasted through a century opening stand by Tom Latham and Blundell before losing three quick wickets.

Latham notched his 18th half-century and second of the Test before he was caught behind off Yadav for 52, Kane Williamson had a short stay for five, and Blundell went for 55.

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News Network
July 1,2020

New Delhi, Jul 1: After being named as India's 'Most Valuable Player' in Test cricket in the 21st century, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Wednesday said that he will always aim to give his best for the country.

His remark came as Jadeja achieved an MVP rating of 97.3 and as a result, he was also rated as the second most valuable player Test player worldwide, only second to Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.

"Thank you Wisden India for naming me the 'Most Valuable Player'. I would like to thank all my teammates, coaches, fans, and well-wishers for your support as I aim to give my best for our country. Jai Hind," Jadeja tweeted.

Based on CricViz's market-leading analytics, each player in world cricket was awarded an 'MVP rating' by Wisden using a statistical model to rank their 'match impact' compared to their peers.

Jadeja has played in 49 Tests from 2012, managing to score 1,869 runs and has also picked up 213 wickets.

"It might come as a surprise to see Ravindra Jadeja, India's spin-bowling all-rounder, feature as India's number one. After all, he's not even always an automatic pick in their Test team. However, when he does play he is picked as a frontline bowler and has batted as high as No.6 - contributing to a very high match involvement," the official website of Wisden quoted CricViz's Freddie Wilde as saying.

"But Jadeja's position is based on more than simply volume: it's what he does when he's involved that really counts. The 31-year-old's bowling average of 24.62 is better than Shane Warne's and his batting average of 35.26 is better than Shane Watson's. His batting and bowling average differential of 10.62 runs is the second-best of any player this century to have scored more than 1,000 runs and taken 150 wickets. He is an all-rounder of the very highest quality," he added.

With the bat in hand, Jadeja has managed to score one century and 14 fifties in the longest format of the game.

He was last seen in action during India's two-Test series against New Zealand earlier this year.

He would have been in action for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL had the tournament commenced from March 29.

However, the IPL has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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