Posted on September 18, 2024
The nation’s cultural heritage and diversities are well known all over the global, and over the past several decades the Indians have shown their prowess in sports. This fact indicates that while India with its population in access of one billion people and producing best athletes has always been below many countries on the international sports rating. But recent years the trend has shown improvement and Indian athletes are performing well on international tournaments especially with regard to few disciplines only. This blog focuses on the Indian sports’s standards with the international standards of different disciplines based on winning performances and opportunities for improvement.
Cricket: India’s Prevalent Ethnic Identification of Sports
It will be quite hard to mention the India sports without the mention of cricket as it is the most famous among all the others. Indeed in India cricket is not merely a game but a passion. BCCI probably is one of the richest and one of the most influential sporting organizations in the world and Indian cricketers are treated as royalty, both at home and abroad. India has also done exceedingly well in the international cricket and has claimed many ICC titles including the World cups and the Champions Trophy.
Indian cricket now has advanced and has also turned into a lucrative business with the onset of Indian Premier League (IPL) with players from different countries and fans across the world. IPL is perhaps the largest and the most successful T20 cricket league played around the world which can almost be said to come at par with the football league of the world like the English Premier League (EPL) as far as popularity and monetary returns or revenue are concerned.
However, one must mention that cricket does not have as large coverage as some of the other sports across the world. Although India leads the cricketing world the game is only predominant in a few countries, many of which were former colonies of Britain. Worldwide more coverage is given to such games as football and athletics compared to this game.
Football: A Growing Passion in a Global Game
Football is the most practiced and viewed sport globally and even though India has a small fan base it is on the rise. Indian Super League also known as ISL which kicked off from the year 2014 has played a critical in boosting the Indian football. They have been able to attract mega stars across the world and have also elicited more patronage from young talents and fans.
But still, the football has enjoyed growing popularity in India, the Indian national football team has not been very successful in its international outings. India’s status as the FIFA world rank stays lower than many of the other nations and India has not even been able to make it to the FIFA world cup. On the other hand, countries with football history dating back many years such as Brazil, Germany, Argentina, among others, have always supplied global talents as well as regularly winning international competitions.
Off late India is concentrating more on grassroots level in football so as to develop talents that can represent the country in the future. However, there is a gap in representation but the development of this infrastructure and the merry go round of investments on this sport indicate the improving status.
Athletics:
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Track and field is among the few sports that are practiced all over the world with many countries achieving the highest standards of the event’s production. Athletics has not been a realm of major Indian presence but recent events indicate the signs of improvement.
India got its first Olympic medal in athletics that too a gold in the recently concluded Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the javelin throw event by Neeraj Chopra. His performance proved that it was possible for Indians to perform well in events that were hitherto almost exclusively the preserve of nations such as the United States, Kenya and Jamaica.
Although there are some improvements shown in particular disciplines such as track and field, India remains still behind most of the athletics in the global level. Therefore for India to compete with these world giants, it has to develop more training centers, coaches and support systems for the young athletes.
Badminton:
This is the surprising new face of a country that is rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the global economy.
Among all the games badminton is one place where Indian shuttles have left their signatures globally. In the recent 10 years a number of athletes such as P. V. Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth have been presented in the top thirty world ranking list, being the winners of Olympic and the World Championships’ medals and acknowledgments of the All England Open Badminton Championships.
As for India, it can be said that it is a ‘newcomer’ in the world of badminton in comparison with countries which have been leading in this sport like China, Indonesia, and Denmark. But the recent years has proved that the nation has ability to produce world class badminton players that has increased the nations exposure towards the sport. Now, India is another powerful team in taking on any challenges at international badminton competitions as young talents are coming from national academies.
Wrestling and Boxing:
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Notably wrestling and boxing have also been amongst the fields where India has done fairly well in the international scene. Indian wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat have excelled in world championships and other tournaments and boxers like Mary Kom, Vijender Singh are the legends, having Olympic medals and world championships to their credit.
Although there are indications that India has scaled through the ladder in these sports particularly in the Commonwealth games and the Asian games, the world market as it relates to these sports is being led by countries like the United States, Russia, and Cuba and so on. Wrestling and boxing are the two Indian sports which have begun showing signs of upgrades over the past few years but much more needs to be done in sports science, and coaching to compete with the big guns present in these countries.
Tennis: Struggling to Compete with the Elite
India has a good past in Tennis player, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathy and Sania Mirza have performed extremely well in doubles and mixed doubles matches. But when it comes to the singles tennis the highest form of tennis I must say India has not produced a tennis player who can challenge the A list players of the game like Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, Roger Federer and so on.
It is imperative for the developing nations to learn from the tennis giants such as United States, Spain and Switzerland, which boast of a rich player development structures and adequate funding. Currently, India’s tennis is growing slowly, and for a long time, the country’s triumphs in doubles, but the victory in singles remains a dream.
Conclusion: Challenges and Opportunities
Indian sports have seen a change over the years where athletes have been participating in several international fields. The sport most popular in India is cricket, however, other sports such as the badminton, wrestling and boxing have proved that India is capable of competing internationally. Nevertheless, voids are also identified in athletics, football, tennis, and other sports that require much more investment on infrastructure development.
Thus, much remains to be done for India to foster it into a sporting superpower: there needs to be effective grassroots level programs established, adequately equipped and well-Internalized facilities for the aspiring athletes, and the athletes themselves have to be provided for and supported enough to encourage them to compete at world level. Further, with the help of a smarter focus and adequate resource equipment, India can climb a higher level and become a serious contestant in the arena of international sports of both Summer and winter type throughout a number of sections.