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A tale of two games

Both Ramana Rao and Robin Singh are of the opinion that the authorities at the helm of affairs lack vision and planning, writes Sumit Bhattacharjee

SPIKER AND A CRICKETER Ramana Rao and Robin Singh Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

Last week the city was host to a number of celebrities and top dignitaries. The list included the President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the three chiefs of the Armed Forces, a couple of foreign defence attaches, Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekara Reddy and a host of other political figures. The list also included two sportsmen, who stood apart in their respective games in their heydays. One a recipient of both Arjuna and Dornacharya Awards and still continues to figure among the top ten great spikers the country has ever produced, and the other who carved a niche for himself as one of the most tenacious and dynamic cricketers who was known for his ability to make dramatic comebacks.

The inference is about the former Indian volleyball captain A. Ramana Rao and the Trinidad-born Indian international cricketer Robin Singh. Both were here as special invitees of Sri Prakash Vidya Niketan for its annual day celebrations `Aroma-2006'. Despite a hectic schedule cramped over an overnight stay the two stole a few moments to interact with The Hindu Metro Plus.

The future of volleyball

"As far as team games are concerned at the world level, India can boast of only two games apart from cricket, they are hockey and volleyball. Though we taught the world how to play good hockey, we are way behind in the ranking today. But in the case of volleyball we have slowly inched forward to take the 26th position out of 217 playing nations. And this is after digesting the hard fact that the game is given least importance both by the government and the sponsors at all levels", Ramana Rao points out.

"The government's attitude towards the game is very indifferent. If five per cent of what is being spent on cricket is allotted to this game, we can work miracles and move up the ranking," laments the spiker.

On the availability of talent, he says: "India is a populous country and there is no dearth as far as talent resource is concerned, especially from the rural side. But the problem is retaining and motivating them. The first hindrance comes from the publicity that is being given to the game of cricket. The fanfare and glam of cricket is weaning away talent from other games. Cricket attracts the first talent, the spillover and failure tainted ones only take up other games."

As far as policies in sports are concerned Ramana Rao says, "There is no uniform policy framed by the government. Look at China. They give importance to all sports uniformly. Their grooming programme starts eight years before the Olympics. The identified boys and girls are put under scientific and systematic training eight years before the games. In our country there is no such scientific and systematic training programme. Merely by appointing a foreign coach just for the heck of it does not serve the purpose. Moreover, my question is why appoint a foreign coach when there are plenty of local talent in the form of ex-players here itself. I would rather say that it is an insult to the former players."

According to him, to get to the top slot the authorities need to plan more international matches within the country and give more publicity to attract talent and then chalk out a scientific long-term programme for grooming them. "And above all the players should be given a fair deal. Why should the players of one game enjoy the riches and the rest struggle to meet both ends," points out Ramana Rao.

Robin's innings

Known for his patience, temperament, hard hitting batting and electrifying fielding Robin Singh sat silently all along as Ramana Rao was spilling his vows, and opened up only when this scribe asked, `Was your retirement pre-mature?'

He shot back saying, "Not at all. I had a couple of years of cricket left in me but I thought that I should make way for other younger players waiting in the wings."

On the current Indian side he said: "The team lacks a proper balance. Except for the middle order that is pretty strong there is no balance in the other departments. The primary problem is the opening slot. Rahul Dravid should not open the innings. The short sightedness of the Board (of Cricket Control in India-BCCI) has led to this problem. They have been trying so many players right from Sadagopan Ramesh to Akash Chopra and from Wasim Jaffer to Gautam Gambhir and they have not allowed any of the players to settle down.

"The second major problem lies in the bowling department. The attack lacks penetration. Bowlers are advised to bowl according to the pitch condition. I personally feel that it is a wrong piece of advice. A fast bowler should be aggressive on any pitch. Look at Sehwag. He is an attacking batsman and that's how he plays on any pitch. As it is, we do not have a very great pace attack and such advices and apprehensions bog down the bowlers and they finally fail to deliver."

On why India fails in other countries, Robin Singh once again put the blame on the Board. "The Board has enough money to design a couple of pitches that are prevalent in countries like Australia, South Africa and England. Indian pitch conditions are totally different to the conditions of those countries. The players should be allowed to practice on simulated pitches before a tour."

Dodging all controversies surrounding his coaching stint, Greg-Sourav spat and Moin Khan's comment on fair play the mercurial cricketer said, "Let's focus on cricket". Robin feels that cricketers should love the aspect of fielding on par as they love batting or bowling. "This is my piece of advice to the budding cricketers. Another important thing is stay focused and practice hard to come up in the game," says Robin.

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