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The heat is missing
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What happened to the rivalry that once existed between Indian Bank and IOB in basketball and volleyball?
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D. V. Sundar (extreme left), Sports officer, Indian Bank, in a discussion with basketball players Thangadurai (second from left) and Bhuvaneshwaran. Coach Mathew Sathya Babu (extreme right) looks on. — Pic. By N. Balaji
WHAT IS sport without intense rivalry? Fans go mad when archrivals clash. Whether it is in hockey or cricket, the Pakistan-India clash draws more crowd and triggers tremendous passion. For decades, the Mohun Bagan-East Bengal confrontation kept the huge Kolkata fan club spellbound, creating an impression that that was Indian football. Similarly, the Lakers-Celtics head-on duel in the American NBA made it a fascinating subject in basketball for decades. Such rivalries provided sum and substance to the games and with that flourished professionalism, which helped players rake in plenty of money. It is always good to have an intense tussle, be it a district-level event or a national-level championship, as perennial rivals excite fans more than the others. That is why when their favourite teams lose strength in the absence of recruitment or due to any other reason, the fans feel bad. They want them to come back and sustain the interest.
The backbone
What the Chennai fans have been missing for some time now is the intense rivalry between Indian Bank and Indian Overseas Bank. Whether it is a basketball tournament or a volleyball event, they want them to clash with the same intensity that existed in the 1980s and the early 1990s.
After all, the banks are the backbone of these two games in Tamil Nadu, and their rivalry over the years enabled the State to remain national champion for years. In volleyball, Tamil Nadu was five-in-a-row champion in the early 1990s, and in basketball, it is going for its sixth straight title this year. All these achievements are possible because of the quality of the game between Indian Bank and IOB and the enormous passion they generate in local tournaments. This intense rivalry has also helped them sharpen their skills.
"Old stars are still hanging around [even after 10 years] and there are no young players to add strength. It is a pity that recruitment has come down," says a T. Nagar fan. But he still watches them as he is `addicted' to their game and is unable to keep off from basketball.
However, the silver lining is that IOB continues to maintain its team. Even if it loses players such as Shabeer Ahmed and Sridhar to ONGC, it has good bench strength. On top of it, it has Sukavaneshwaran.
Besides, there are Chandrasekhar, Sundar, Robinson, Gopinath and Shivshankar. So it is still delightful to watch IOB.
New additions
What about Indian Bank, one might ask. Its fans, who are expecting a thorough rejuvenation of the team, need not feel disappointed. Two new players, Thangadurai and Bhuvaneshwaran, have brought some hope to the team that was struggling for survival for some time. Thangadurai, a junior international, is a tall, well-built boy. The Tamil Nadu officials are hopeful of his success at the national level. "Thangadurai is a bit slow and injury-prone. We want him to train for the fast game. He must know how to avoid injury because at that level competition is going to be tough. Still he is a good catch for Indian Bank and we want him to fill Shabeer's place in the State team. He is a good outside shooter too," says Selvaraj, secretary, Tamil Nadu Basketball Association. "With regard to Bhuvaneshwaran, he has already played well for TISCO. Lean and quick, he can make a good impact in attack and defence. We are expecting more from this Coimbatore boy. The Indian Bank team is getting stronger. We want the teams to be strong like they were before. Then only will the quality of the game improve," says Selvaraj.
"We are taking some more players. The team will be ready soon," says D.V. Sundar, Sports Officer, Indian Bank.
M. C. RAMAN
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