The big bad world of doping

Vishal Uppal brings in a quick read to satisfy your curiosity on doping in sports

The split-second difference between win and loss has always intimidated athletes in competitive sports. The stamina, perseverance and an ability to hold the nerves in moment of time is a challenge for even the best trained athletes. The guiding emotion to win for the native country is overbearing for the athletes. The same emotion along with ambition to perform better than the competition pushes some athletes to consume substances that improve physical performance. The term doping is not news to anyone. Doping is not a new concept and existed since ancient times. Herbal decoctions, stimulants and nutritional aids existed from time immemorial. The warrior tribes consumed them for physical prowess. Classical medicine systems in India, China and Greece have a repertoire of herbs and salts that enhances performance. Ginseng, Mumijo and many other herbs are known to increase oxygen supply in blood. In modern day doping, steroids and hormones are taken to fuel the muscles. It is not always the athlete's choice to take banned drugs. It is sometimes a systematic plan driven from the government. You will read about the Russian doping scandal and how it turned out as systematic plan. The honest teams relied on nutritional supplementation and equipment tweaking to enhance athlete's performance. However, growing competition made way for corrupt form of achieving the means.

The biggest doping scandal of all time came to light when Yuliya Stepanova, a former Russian athlete revealed the culture of doping in Russia. Upon investigations, it was found that as many as 1400 urine samples of athletes were knowingly destroyed or manipulated to cover up the culture of consuming performance enhancing drugs. The players, coaches and government officials were found party to systematic doping. Russia has had 43 Olympics medals stripped for doping violations. Russian Track and Field Federation was banned from 2016 Rio Olympics and other world championships. Russia was suspended from athletics, weightlifting, paralympic sports but has continued to participate in other sports. IAAF has allowed Russians who have undergone testing by non-Russian agencies to compete as neutral athletes.

The doping scandal had a devastating effect on honest and deserving athletes. Mariya Lasitskene, a Russian High jumper was barred to participate in Rio Olympics. She was ranked World Number One and was considered favorite to win a gold. She has participated under neutral flag as per guidelines of IAAF since then. She won gold in 2017 World Championships. We can expect her to be favorite in Tokyo Olympics.

Athletes come under lens from time to time. Another notorious doping scandal came to light from Tour de France cycling event. Lance Armstrong, infamous for the biggest doping scandal was stripped of his seven titles over drug use. In addition, many winners including Alberto Contador, Floyd Landis, Marco Pantani, Jan Ullrich and Bjarne Riis have been caught in doping scandals. The recent was Chris Froome, a four time winner, was tested positive for double the level of allowable asthma drug in 2017.

There are times when a player can get disqualified for taking medication for a physical ailment. In July 2019, Delhi Capitals (DC) batsman, Prithvi Shaw was suspended for doping violation. He was not allowed to play Indian Premier League T20 eliminator match between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SH). The urine sample he gave in February was found to contain Terbutaline. Terbutaline is a prohibited substance in WADA's prohibited list of substances. It was later found that he took Terbutaline as prescription medicine for Respiratory Tract Infection and not as performance enhancing drug. But despite that, he will not be able to play till mid of November.

The stringent guidelines, testing and penalties have deterred athletes to try the prohibited substances. However, doping is going to stay in forms that may not be detectable by tests in future. But in a fair game, an athlete must be honest to withhold his integrity and integrity of the sports.

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The present and future of sports coaching in India

Vishal Uppal assesses the state of coaching in urban and rural India.

The success of a player primarily depends on coaching. A player needs coaching at every stage. A good coach works on multiple aspects. The fitness, diet, technique, execution and strategy required to play a particular sport is devised by a coach. Successful players have publicly admitted the role of their coaches and their coaching. The standard of coaching has drastically risen in last two decades. Coaching is now available at every level. The gradual rise in quality and availability of coaching can be attributed to multiple factors.

The first factor is inspiring performance of Indian sports fraternity on world stage. Indians players are winning medals and are being ranked in top few in certain sports. India is doing exceptionally good in Cricket, Hockey, Badminton, Tennis, Table Tennis, Boxing, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Shooting, Archery, Gymnastics and Athletics. Children as young as five are aspiring to learn and excel in sports. Parents are now seeking services of coaches to train their kids from elementary level. This has opened avenues for coaches. The coaches who worked only in academic institutions now run their sports coaching classes to supplement their income and train the aspirants. The sportsmen who were not able to make it higher levels are now working as full time elementary coaches.

The second factor is availability of sporting infrastructure. The boom in sectors such as Information Technology has brought people in IT hubs. This led to development of condominium complexes. These housing complexes are equipped with basic infrastructure that is helping children work on their basic skills. A good housing complex has swimming pool, badminton court, squash court, volleyball court and many other based on the how premium is the complex. In addition, municipalities in Tier A and Tier B cities in India have developed sports facilities that provide skating rinks, large grounds for hosting cricket and soccer tournaments and indoor halls for practicing badminton and table tennis. These facilities also host summer and winter camps for coaching players. In addition, big sports equipment merchandisers have opened courts in and around malls in Metropolitan cities. Decathlon stores in India have provided courts for practicing basketball, hockey, skating and other popular sports. 

The veteran wrestlers in village gymnasiums are training entrants to compete at village, district and state level. Most wrestling champions are a gift of traditional training methodology where the teacher and pupil share a deep bond. As emphasis on sports is increasing, the villages are churning out sportsmen trained in traditional sports.

The good part is opening up of specialist training academies. These academies are being opened by retired sports personalities and are contributing by training men and women in competitive sports. Some of these academies are meant for training the learners for international level. The Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad is headed by Pullela Gopichand. The academy has produced current and former world number one shuttlers; P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal. The cricket academies like National Cricket Academy headed by Anil Kumble; Vengsarkar Cricket Academy founded by Dilip Vengsarkar; Sehwag Cricket Academy run by Virender Sehwag and many other similar academies are imparting quality coaching in Cricket. However, India is still dependent on foreign coaches and academies in foreign countries for specialized coaching in hockey, tennis, archery and shooting. But as former players are hosting camps and venturing into coaching, the dependence will reduce in coming years.

The future of sports coaching in India is on rise and young men and women can definitely get into it. It is a sunshine sector as Indians are keen to get into sporting careers. The coaching profession has scope for making sustainable income; it also presents an opportunity to serve community and nation and finally it is a profession that brings job satisfaction. It is thrilling to see your students grow and win.

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Sandpapergate to Ashes

Vishal Uppal takes a dig on the event that rocked Australian Cricket in 2018 and the exhilarating comeback of banned players in 2019. 

Australian Cricket has always been in limelight for wrong reasons. Australian Cricket formed commercial relationships with betting agencies. They have been accused of match fixing in International matches. Finally, sledging and ball tampering have stained the team on moral pedestal. Sledging matters, as Australian players take it to the point where adherence to code of ethics becomes questionable.  Cheating is not unusual in sports but it brings disgrace and serious consequences if proven with evidence. Australian Cricket experienced exactly the same in early part of 2018. It was hit hard by ball tampering scandal that later came to be known as Sandpapergate scandal. Cameron Bancroft was caught rubbing the ball with sandpaper during a test match with South Africa. The moment was captured by television cameras in vivid details. The live broadcast was for everyone to see. Captain Steve Smith and Vice-captain David Warner were identified for having prior knowledge of tampering. Steve Smith and David Warner faced a ban of twelve months from International Cricket. Bancroft, who applied the sandpaper to the ball, faced nine month suspension from the sport. Not only did they lose grace, they also lost commercial and playing contracts. The names of three players didn’t appeared in national contracts for 2018-19 and they were banned from playing 2018 edition of IPL, which otherwise would have ensured sum of 2 to 3 million dollars for the players.

Tampering has happened before and several star bowlers have been known to do it with one way or the other. But the cameras catching the tiny piece of sandpaper tainted the reputation of revered Australian cricketers. The prime minister of Australia had to offer a statement on the scandal.

The silver lining to such events is the learning. All the three players have made the Test returns with the first Ashes Test Match that took place in Edgbaston from August 1 to 5. After a great performance in ICC World Cup 2019, it was a dream comeback for Steve Smith. He scored 144 in first innings and 142 in second innings. Steve said that “It’s incredibly special. It feels like Christmas morning every morning getting to come and do this” . But it was not all good in the beginning. The players were booed by audience in several world cup matches. We saw Virat Kohli urging fans to stop booing Steve Smith in the match between India and Australia in ICC World Cup 2019. The gesture later became a headline in the sport. Though, we have yet to see some miracle from David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, the next four matches in Ashes series can unfold the openers doing some excellent batting.

Can India qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2022? Why there is a sudden surge of hope for India making to Qatar 2022.

Vishal Uppal assesses the state of sports in the country and prospects of Indian Football team in the qualifiers.

The football in India is like a rare fever. It arrives once in four years. The jerseys of popular players can be spotted on display windows of outlets of sportswear brands. You can find youngsters siding with contending teams by wearing their jerseys and watching the matches with mugs of beer in bars in metropolitan cities. The frenzy is fuelled by media which for most of the year promotes Cricket but switches to football owning to promotion meant for merchandise sales. You can also spot youngsters getting coached in football and playing in grounds that only see cricket for most part of the year.

However, the fan following and awareness of football is increasing by leaps and bounds. Football is highly popular in few states in India. West Bengal, north eastern and southern states take particular interest in football. The football in India has been dominated by clubs sponsored by patron industrial houses. The oldest club is Mohun Bagan A.C. and it is in existence since 1889. East Bengal F.C., Churchill Brothers F.C. of Goa and few others are popular clubs in India. They compete in League Football and Durand Cup.

The football fraternity and fans are suddenly taking a notice at Indian Football team. The team is performing well and beating or drawing with Asian teams for some time. The hope for India qualifying for FIFA World Cup 2022 to be hosted in Qatar is on upsurge. This came after India got placed in Group E in second round Asian Qualifiers. The matches will start from September 5. The team is clubbed with teams of Qatar, Oman, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Qatar is already qualified for the World Cup because of being a host. India is seen as better side in matches against Afghanistan and Bangladesh. India can also beat or draw with Qatar and Oman in its reigning form.  

Indian Head Coach Igor Stimac said that "It will be an enormous challenge for your young team. We have been drawn into a very tough group". He later said that “we need to respect every opposition”.

Football fans in India are almost sure of India moving to third qualifying round that will begin in September 2020. The task to play in FIFA World Cup will be tougher in third round as India may have to play strong teams like Iran, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Japan and Australia. The two top teams in this qualifier will get a ticket to FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The fourth round that starts in October 2021 will provide opportunity to teams placed third in each group. But before we think of fourth and fifth round we have to see how India cruises through second and third round.

It is a tough road and India playing in FIFA World Cup 2022 is still unrealistic. However, we can hope considering how teams improve with each passing match. The dream can also become reality if Indian origin players playing in European Leagues can be convinced to play for India in near future. But considering the improvement in overall facets of sporting in India, the chances of hearing national anthem in coming World Cups are bright. I wish Sunil Chhetri and his team best of luck for second round qualifiers and hope to see them moving into third round.

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Description: Sunil Chhetri and Anirudh Thapa celebrating a goal in their group match against Thailand at 2019 AFC Asian Cup

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.