Indian Sports Scene Improving?

Of late, the Indian sports scene has seen much reason for elation. And I’m not just talking about cricket. Take everything from tennis to football to hockey and all we can see is good news. Of course, I realize that we haven’t suddenly turned world-beaters over-night. No, I haven’t suddenly gone crazy either.But if you’ve been following the sports news lately, you would have noticed a spate of good news from all over the sporting arena.

I’ll start off with tennis. Sania Mirza (who else?) after taking a break for an operation and general fitness improvement is back. And back with a Bang! Her rankings had slipped to the 60s area and now she is on 27! And her recent US Open performance has the pundits betting on an even better ranking. Already her ranking is the highest any Indian Woman Tennis player has ever seen and its only going to get better? I’ll be hard-pressed to find a better example for this post. Because of this, some really brilliant showing by Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi (business as usual?) have not taken up much of the spotlight but are extremely praiseworthy mentions in their own right. As I right this, Paes is preparing for his mixed doubles US Open finals

In Football, the recent Nehru Cup victory would not doubt have revived some lost interest in the national football team. A 1-0 final score against a much better ranked ( some 30-40 ranks better) Syria in a highly physical match is testimony to the growing confidence of team India in the global footballing space. Although the coach, Bob Houghton says its just a small step forward inthe international footballing scene, for us Indians who have forever been battling with delays, red-tape-ism and beurocracy, even a small step forward for an Indian sports team will seem like a huge leap. Hope this good form continues for India in the world’s favourite sport.
In hockey, with the new coach Carvalho, things are already looking up. Traditionally, hockey has been India’s forte with many talented hockey-players stealing the show in international events. But that was almost 60 years ago. Not today. Today, India have sunk from the heroes to the underdogs of Hockey. But hockey still is the national game (I know some of you still think its cricket. Shame on you!). This season, there is a good chance that we can qualify for the Olympics (touchwood). We have already displayed that we can play well as a team by defeating SriLanka 20-0 in the Asia Cup and setting a world record in the process. But just like in Cricket, consistency is an elusive concept to Indian sports-persons. We are cruising along in the Asia Cup as I am writing this post we have already defeated China – although it was a mediocre display, a win is a win is a win!

I am not going to talk much about Cricket, as you may already be well-versed on the subject. The England tour is a big step forward and currently we are 3-3 on the ODIs. Good luck guys.

But lets not count the proverbial chickens. There is still a looooooong way to go before we can be proud of The Great Indian Sports Teams. But we could be on the pedestal to greater achievements. Who knows. My fingers are crossed and here’s wishing India all the luck they can get (and they’ll need it too).