RISE OF CRICKET, DOWNFALL OF OTHER SPORTS: The prize money, commercial contracts, separate State govt’s promises et. al, fecilitation at Raj Bhawan by the President of India, involvement of top officials and bureaucrats during the match and after, two PM watching the match live in the stadium, the Gandhi’s family presence, the President of SL coming over too, etc etc.
How much can it get BIGGER and BETTER than this? And then come the 43cr tax exemption for the BCCI (Wah wah wah)
As much as I started to love and follow cricket, I feel uncomfortable when it gets too much of attention and limelight that, ( my humble opinion), in the long run will be detrimental for the beautiful game. The MONEY FACTOR might get the centrestage than the GAME itself, and whenever someone mentions Cricket, the moolah involves in it will be the first thing that comes into the picture.
I am not against Cricket totally. My only wish is that we put and pump in more resources, if not at the same level of cricket, for other sports (like hockey and football). We can take a cue from the English and Australians; both have great cricket as well as football teams. They go hand in hand and are quite successful in both front.
Should we ever think of replicating them in the future, the sooner it will be, the better for all. Hope to see that dream come true during my short sojourn
