ON THE PLAYING FIELD
India’s golden run
NANDITA SRIDHAR
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How far has Indian sport travelled? From the dominance of hockey to the frenzy of cricket, today it has been a long journey. Mentioned here are a few of the people who have taken Indian sport to great heights.
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PHOTOS: AFP, AP, K. Murali Kumar, PTI, P.V. Sivakumar
Doing India proud: Leander Paes and Sania Mirza.
Post-Independence has been eventful for Indian sport. From the incredible success of the Indian hockey team to the rise of cricket as a national passion and the achievers emerging from other sports, the nation has tasted success.
The initial years were dominated by hockey, with the Indians captivating many with their sheer style and touch-play. After its golden run was broken by Pakistan in Rome, India clinched gold medals in Tokyo (1964) and Moscow (1980), but thereafter the irreversible change in Indian sport happened in 1983.
The nation’s passion
When Kapil Dev lifted the cricket World Cup in 1983, it propelled cricket to the top of Indian sport. With the country’s greatest all-rounder in Kapil, and its greatest opener in Sunil Gavaskar, cricket’s popularity steadily increased in the 1980s and touched dizzying heights in the 1990s.
Jeev Milka Singh.
Sachin Tendulkar set the precedent for the cricketing superstar with enormous commercial clout. He changed the face of Indian cricket with his genius, piling on the runs and the records, and sometimes making losses seem easier to live with.
P.T.Usha.
The spin quartet, comprising Bishen Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan symbolised India’s natural afinity towards spin. Gundappa Viswanath, Anil Kumble (with his historic 10 for 74 against Pakistan), Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly have provided individual moments of brilliance for the cricket fan. Match fixing clouded cricket for a substantial period of time, throwing light on the amount of money involved in the sport in the sub-continent. The game survived, but doubts linger.
Individual sport
As far as individual sports went, Ramanathan Krishnan was India’s standout performer in tennis, when he won the Wimbledon junior title in 1954, and also took India to the Davis Cup final in 1966. His son Ramesh Krishnan won the junior Wimbledon and the French Open titles in 1979, also taking India to the Davis Cup final in 1987. Vijay Amritraj’s serve-and-volleying skills helped him notch up upset wins, like those over John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors.
On court
The next generation of tennis players were lead by Leander Paes, who won the Olympic bronze in 1996, and Mahesh Bhupathi, who formed what could have been one of the greatest doubles pairing with Paes.
Pullela Gopichand and Prakash Padukone;
Women’s tennis, which was virtually non-existent was given a massive boost when Sania Mirza won the junior Wimbledon doubles title, and later on, her first WTA title at Hyderabad in 2005.
Karnam Malleswari.
Another who revolutionised his sport in the country is Viswanathan Anand. India’s first Grandmaster’s rapid rise in chess inspired a large number of children into taking up the sport. The first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Anand became World No. 1 for the first time this April.
Fast track
India has produced two outstanding athletes in Milkha Singh and P.T. Usha. Milkha was a World record holder in 400m, before he missed the 1960 Rome Olympic 400m bronze by a fraction. With gold medals thereafter in the Asian Games, his was an inspiring success story of someone who reached great heights in sport, after going through the trauma of losing his parents during the partition.
Geet Sethi.
Usha was a path-breaker of sorts, taking to athletics when it was a largely male-dominated sport. She became the first Indian woman to reach the final of an Olympic event, though she lost the 1984 Olympics 400m hurdles bronze by 1/100th of a second. Despite missing out, Usha’s place as one of the greatest women athletes in India remains undoubted.
Olympic medals
India’s potentially disastrous Olympic campaign in the last two editions were saved by Karnam Malleswari (weightlifting bronze) and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (double trap silver).
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.
The nation has tasted international success in billiards with Geet Sethi and Michael Ferreira, and in badminton with Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand.
Fresh promise
The future of Indian sport looks good, with the likes of Jeev Milkha Singh (golf) and Pankaj Advani (cue sports) showing promise. Sixty years from now the nation should have more reason to rejoice and more memories to cherish.
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