Can Hima Das sustain the weight of expectations? The talented athlete won admiration for her gold run but unrealistic expectations of masses and media can put her in the spot.

Vishal Uppal explores the culture of over expectation and frenzy in India and how it harms the sports.

Indian sprinter Hima Das won five gold medals in July in International Athletics events. She gained appreciation from masses of the country that has yet to see an individual athletic gold medal in Olympics. Tweets and social media posts from masses and celebrities raised bar of expectations that will weigh heavily on her shoulders. The 19-year-old athlete from Dhing village in Assam received congratulatory note from President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She also received appreciation from noted cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar.

In a reply on twitter, She promised to work hard and bring more medals for India. She is one of the most talked name in Indian athletics after P. T. Usha and Milkha Singh.

Before we move with topic of expectations and frenzy, we must look at her commendable achievement that made her a recognizable name.

Hima won her first gold in 200m race on July 2. She clocked 23. 65 seconds to win the medal in Poznan Athletics Grand Prix in Poland. She won her second gold in 200m race on July 8 at the Kutno Athletics Meet in the same country. She won her third gold in 200m race at the Kladno Athletics Meet in Czech Republic with a time of 23. 43 seconds. She won her fourth gold in 200m race at Tabor Athletics Meet and fifth gold on July 20 at Nove Mesto, Czech Republic in 400 m race, recording 52. 09 seconds on the clock.

This was a record haul for Hima Das in a single month in 2019. She won four gold medals in 200m, 400m and 400m relay format in 2018 from June to August.

Her brand value is also on upward path. She now fetches a fee of 6 million rupees per endorsement.

Considering her performance, the expectations of her performing in upcoming Athletic Meets is at an all-time high. People in India expect miracles from their sports persons and lashes at them for performance that may be even real on ground zero. Consider the backlash faced by Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his batting in ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019. People in India did not weigh the superior bowling attack from opposition and wished M S Dhoni to outperform in the game. The aftermath sometimes, reach to irrational levels. The frenzy created by media and propagated on social media is too hard on players. The masses do not hesitate to malign even the most credible players.

Hima's career best is still far off from the timings of the athletes that will compete in World Championships and later in Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

The people have to accept that she is still learning and needs training at best facilities in the world. The improvement takes time. She may even fail to qualify for events that are in higher pecking order. The people in India and media must act mature and understand the process that undergoes in training of athletes for competitive events. We have destroyed many sports persons through judgment that runs high on emotional octane. Those who ardently follow sports know that a tennis player who plays astonishingly well on grass court may be an average player on the clay court. Even in same format, we see a same player doing well on hard court in US Open and gasping for breath In Australian Open, This is also true for athletes. The climate in Poland and Czech Republic may have suited Hima Das but it could be a different affair elsewhere.

Hima Das is highly talented but she is still not the best on the bigger stage. We must let her find the purpose and drive to win. We must judiciously use social media. Her wins are an inspiration for generations and her losses are a reality check for her to do better. We must stand by her on her journey to greatness.

Image Source: Erik van Leeuwen, attribution: Erik van Leeuwen (bron: Wikipedia) - http://www.erki.nl/pics/main.php?g2_itemId=156797

What went wrong with Zimbabwean Cricket? The story of a formidable side getting bowled out by politics and nepotism.

Vishal Uppal explores and explains the story of political interference and corruption that ended the golden streak of Zimbabwean Cricket.

An ardent follower of cricket can never forget Henry Olonga’s opening spell in 1998 Champions Trophy match between Zimbabwe and India. Olonga packed Indian top order with Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar walking back to pavilion with dismal Indian scorecard of 28/3. Olonga finished with five wickets in an exhilarating match that was eventually won by Zimbabwe. The period from 1997 to 2002 is referred as “The Golden Era” of Zimbabwean Cricket. Once a formidable side of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Zimbabwe cricket team saw the worst upheaval in its cricketing history. The series of events that started in 2003 pushed Zimbabwean Cricket into state of oblivion for over fifteen years. The painful period is not finding an end. The indefinite suspension of Zimbabwe Cricket team from playing in ICC events from July 2019 is sad news for cricket fans. The ICC’s desire to keep political interference out of cricket is also mired with controversy as former sports minister David Coltart has accused ICC of ignoring the affairs for long. David suggested the fresh elections of the board instead of reorganization of corrupt and incompetent board in the past.

We will briefly explore how political interference and corruption ended the journey of the celebrated team.

The problem began in 2001 with reduction in funding from the government. In addition to cut in the funding, the selection of national team was plagued by introduction of quota system. The system provisioned for inclusion of minimum number of black players. It was alleged that administration of cricket was corrupted by the influence of Robert Mugabe’s racist anti-white policies. Despite difficulties on this front, the Zimbabwean team flourished from contribution of its players. Andy Flower was rated as best batsman during those times. The Flower brothers Andy and Grant, Heath Streak, Murray Goodwin and middle order players like Alister Campbell and Paul Strang contributed to revival of the team. Henry Olonga was a competitive and fierce bowler of the golden Zimbabwean cricketing era.

The internal strife came to the fore when Andy Flower and Henry Olonga wore black armbands to protest against “the death of democracy” in Zimbabwe. Both the players later emigrated under political pressure. The later events sealed the fate of high performing team. In 2004, the white captain Heath Streak was sacked by Zimbabwe Cricket Union. He was replaced by untested Tatenda Taibu. The resulting standoff between the ZCU and the senior players led to dismissal of fifteen players from the team. An almost all black team formed after dismissal of senior players performed poorly in test and limited over series. The team was outclassed by established and emerging teams. The team never emerged from the abyss. Some notable performances were seen during 2005, 2007 and 2011 in T20 and Test Cricket format; however, the outstanding debt and fund crunch led to demise of Zimbabwean cricketing fervor by the end of 2018. The state of Zimbabwean economy was a contributor in the downward spiral. The government interference in Zimbabwe Cricket (formerly Zimbabwe Cricket Union) through SRC (Zimbabwe’s Sports and Recreation Committee), has resulted in ICC cutting off funding and banning its team from participating in ICC events. The deep disappointment felt by players and all those associated with the sport is inconsolable.

The ICC next review is in October and cricket fans are hoping to see Zimbabwean team come out of abyss. We may see some form of funding similar to what happened for Afghanistan; but it may only happen on conditions of removal of government interference.

We have witnessed the gross destruction of sports in countries caught in bane of bureaucracy, nepotism and fulfillment of vested interests. Zimbabwean cricket has suffered for long. It is an exemplary case of what should never happen to a sport.