The Hindu : Sport : Just wish we get lots of medals: Kapil

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Just wish we get lots of medals: Kapil

Bangalore: The former India cricket captain, Kapil Dev, said that though his heart desires that India bag a lot of medals at the Beijing Olympics, he is also acutely aware that the nation lacks a proper sports system to help athletes compete at the international level.

“I just wish we get lots of medals but it is a fact that we are not yet ready to compete at the world stage. Our yearly sports budget is less than the annual budget of at least 10 leading sportspersons in the United States.

“I humbly request our Finance Minister to do something about this. We need a sports budget that is 10 times more than the current allocation and we also need a system right from home to school to college that will keep pushing athletes forward,” Kapil said on the sidelines of an Indian Cricket League press conference, here on Tuesday.

Reacting to Adam Gilchrist’s stated dream of having Twenty20 in the Olympics in the near future, Kapil Dev said: “It is not that I am trying to contradict Gilchrist but let us first try and have a successful run of the game in the Commonwealth Games because it is a fact that cricket is played amongst the Commonwealth nations.

“In Olympics, we will have just 10 countries playing the game. Let us take it one step at a time.”

It may be recalled that cricket was part of the Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and South Africa had then won the gold medal. — Principal Correspondent

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