New Delhi: Sunday was an interesting day for Indian sport. We got a severe thrashing in the most loved sport of India and we qualified for the biggest sporting event in the world in a sport which was once the most loved sport of our nation.

India’s poor run in cricket continued with Team India losing to the Australians, the sight that we are getting used to. With this loss, the chances of India reaching the finals of the Commonwealth Bank Series took a major blow. India virtually surrendered in front of the mighty Australians.

And on the same day Indian hockey team thrashed France to reach the London Olympics. They played splendid hockey and won all the matches convincingly in the tournament. Now, they will take on the best teams in the world and in a completion which is the most difficult and the most prestigious tournament known to the sporting world.

These two incidents taking place have confused an avid Indian fan. People have started to talk about hockey now; they are forcing themselves to say that they are done with cricket and India’s poor performance. They want to love hockey and are trying to convince everyone including themselves that this day calls for a celebration and not remorse. All the newspapers are filled with the stories criticizing the cricketers and praising the hockey players.

But, there is one question that comes to mind and that is -- is the feeling genuine. Isn’t it the case where the Indian fans are reacting to their cricket team’s loss; a case where they just want to tease their cricket super stars by loving the hockey players who they might not be knowing by their names even.

India’s nightmare in cricket will get over very soon as they will return to their own country and will be there for a long time. With that, they will start winning and the people will start worshiping them again. IPL is not that far either. The tournament will see nine teams competing with each other in Cricket’s most ordinary version. The competition will see huge mullah being spent on club cricketers.

And in those glorious times how many people will follow the Indian hockey, time will tell. Olympics will start in five months time, and it is for sure that by that time Indian cricketers will find their way in people’s heart once again. And once again the men with sticks will be left all by themselves to compete in the toughest event.

It was good to see a huge crowd in the National Stadium on the night that will be long remembered. But among the spectators were many people who didn’t even know that India didn’t qualify for the Beijing Olympics. There were people present who were ignorant about the fact that this is the last chance for the hockey team to qualify; they were not even aware about what is at stake here. How many of those spectators were there to prove a point to the cricketers is a real question. Maybe they were trying to send a message that they have moved on.

By Gaurav Jha

Indian Sports News