Should Cricket Be Declared the National Game of India?

The time has arrived when we need to seriously think about it. Don’t think that I don’t love our national game Hockey; yes I love Hockey very much. But still today I am thinking that time has arrived when we need to seriously think about this line – Should cricket be Declared the National Game of India?

I have watched all the matches of India in the ongoing 2010 Hockey World Cup, and frankly speaking I really became sad to see this type of performances. Except the match against Pakistan, which I unfortunately missed to see, the players were seriously missing the preparation which the team need for a big tournament like World Cup.

Who was the real culprit – The players, Hockey India or Controversies? The performance of the players are something on which I am unable to comment as an expert, as I am not an expert of game, but if you ask me as a spectator then I will surely say that the performance was not up to the mark. Although I cheered the team many times in the matches, but was really surprised to see that none of the Indian players were there near to the goal post to protect the attacks of the opposition.

Our defense was the worst in the matches, attack was good, but they never dominated the oppositions. Now come back to the Hockey India. In my honest opinion they were the real culprits behind this poor performance of the team. They were only thinking about how to become the boss of the association.

Controversies too played major role in the poor performance of our national team in the world cup of our national game. Players were looking for money (which was their rights too) but they got it from winning only one match. The elections of the Hockey India too played a big role in the preparation of the players.

Now come back to the topic, as I said that the time has arrived when we seriously need to think about the national game. Do you think that Hockey is played in schools or colleges? I don’t think so. We don’t have the bench strength, so we need to rely on these tested players only. Go for cricket and you will see that children’s of nursery schools too have the knowledge of cricket. BCCI, the Board of Cricket Control in India, is the richest sport organization in India. The team is getting good sponsors too that pay for their cricket pitch repair.

Believe my words that here are so many players available in the bench that you can create 100 or even thousands cricket team, and all of them will have almost the same strength. Indian Premiere League, one of the most popular sports in India is one of the examples of the bench strength of cricket players and the flow of money in this game.

So considering all these factors, why are we crying for the Indian Hockey Team? There are no sponsors for it, while players are not that much good, and no one is serious about promoting it, so why to cry for it? Just move ahead and made cricket the national game, which has all the glamor and money.