I am actually very much enthused by all the buzz that the Hockey world cup has managed to create this time round in our country.The India-Pakistan match was an cracker of an contest(The subsequent beating was an aberration I hope).Frankly speaking I have been to a few football matches at the ambedkar stadium and few hockey matches in the National stadium.Sadly whenever I have gone its because I got the tickets for free but never paid for it.So today I ask myself why are the crowds missing from these two games which are literally more popular than cricket throughout the world(I also believe Cricket can never match upto the popularity of these two games,Just look at the dismal crowds turning up for test matches at most of the places).
I have zeroed in on 2 probable reasons for the decline of these two sports in our country.
Firstly both Hockey and Football require much more discipline and stamina than cricket.Yes that is a fact no-one should refute and I also agree that modern day cricket is much more competitive but still the kind of energy and endurance required for a game of football or hockey is unmatched.Also Indians are usually bad in physical games as most Indian parents would like their kids to play something gentler as football or hockey players are more prone to injuries/(A case in point my dad broke his hand while playing football for the Air force team and after that my grandma forbid him to play football at all).
Secondly Hockey performance start going down at the time the T.V made a foray into the homes.India won the cricket world cup while the hockey team started their spiral downwards.Our new national sport was Cricket because we were the underdogs and still we managed to become the world champions.While in hockey we were The ginats and we performed like the underdogs.Underdogs have a special charm which a giant can never have.
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