THIS week, Pakistani cricket captain Younis Khan said in Dubai that Australian teams always tend to create controversies when they fear ending up second best to the Indian sub continental teams. The affable Younis, a friendly man with a large heart, was bang on target, even though he was speaking in the context of Australian Shane Watson complaining about Saeed Ajmal’s bowling action.
Younis could well have said that in the context of the cancelled India-Australia Davis Cup tie in Chennai as well. Tennis Australia (TA) decided to pull out of the 8-10 May tie citing security concerns. But, by all accounts, their concerns did not hold much water as not only is it a peaceful city but sportspersons have hardly been targeted in the Tamil Nadu capital – rather the entire country.
TA’s decision surprised many experts, raised many unanswered questions and, above all, their true motive behind pulling out. Did they decline to visit Chennai because Lleyton Hewitt had pulled out of the tie, again due to security concerns? Some people think so.
It was a hugely surprising decision because tennis is one of the top sports in Australia and has a huge following. Australia has won Davis Cup on many occasions and saying ‘no’ to the tie against India also meant disappointing its innumerable tennis fans the world over, not to count of the monetary loss and punishment TA might have to suffer as a result. And, here, we are not even talking of the millions of disappointed Indian fans. That India got a walkover and advanced to the next round of the premier men’s team tournament is little consolation.
Citing the relocation of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket to South Africa due to clash of its dates with the general election, TA decided not to play even after the International Tennis Federation (ITF) had approved of the venue following an inspection. Any level headed person would not equate a 37-day IPL with a three-day Davis Cup tie. Cricket is India’s No. 1 sport and it is followed by millions of Indians with great passion. Tennis, on the other hand, is followed by far fewer people. Only a blind or insane person can draw any sort of parallels between the two sports in the Indian context.
So, does TA’s decision to pull out mean that it doesn’t give a damn about the ITF? Or, is it that TA feels it is too powerful to be told what to do? Is TA above the sport? There are many questions that have risen from Australia
When it comes to comparing Englishmen and Australians, the former are more finicky about anything Indian and the subcontinent while the Aussies are considered more sporting. Yet the English cricket team played a five-day Test match in Chennai in December last year, just days after the terrorist attacks had rocked Mumbai.
So, if an English team can come back and play in Chennai, what stops the Australians playing tennis in front of a much smaller crowd? Generally, the threat at a cricket match, with thousands of people watching from the stands, is surely much larger than a few hundreds, who are more controllable, watching a much shorter game of tennis. Clearly, no one can offer logical reasoning when one party has pre-decided that it would not play come what may.
Fortunately, India is gradually growing as a sporting power and it is imperative that the country’s sports federations, if not the ministry itself, should teach teams that refuse to live up to commitments just where to get off their high horses. This can be done by not necessarily declining to play at venues in a tit-for-tat move, but in various other ways, like making a similar fuss about security, seeking more comfortable accommodation and luxurious travel for its players and officials, and demanding a large number of match passes, etc etc.
The ways in which India can teach these countries a lesson are many. And, when these teams travel to India, don’t roll out the red carpet as we Indians normally do, bestowing on them the undeservedly larger-than-life aura. It is time that Indian sports administrators learn to use their positions to teach recalcitrant foreign counterparts a lesson.
Anil Khanna, the secretary general of the All India Tennis Association, is also president of the Asian Tennis Federation, and he should use his position and influence at the ITF to teach TA a fitting lesson. He will get many opportunities to do so. But the question is: what are his priorities? First of all, there are only a handful of Indians (maybe you can count them on your fingertips) who are on the world bodies of different sports. Then, once they get elected, they tend to go with the flow. In this context, Khanna can set a precedent if he decides to act. Question is: Will he?
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