By Promod PuriLINK COLUMNISTAs the hullabaloo accompanying SachinTendulakar’s retirement is easing off thatthe cricket bugged India can now astutelyconsider retiring the game as well fromits number one position and take upfootball as its most favorite nationalsport.Like Tendulakar, the country has reachedits pinnacle in the game of cricket that anhonorable exit from its elevated status isworth for the survival and flourishing ofother sports.Over the past quarter of a century, perhapsmore, cricket, without doubt, has somuch dominated the sport scene in Indiathat most other equally worthy sportshave been relegated to discriminatorylower grade.The entry of cricket in India as an elitesport and thus acquiring its status symbolin the middle and rich class is in reality anexpensive outdoor indulgence that a vastmajority of country’s poor youth canonly enviously enjoy watching it ( only onTV ), but not actively participate in this”gentleman’s game”.Compared to that the “common man’sgame” of football, undoubtedly the mostpopular of all the world sports, is dirtcheap costing only few hundred rupees.In cricket the total cost for all the equipment,bats, balls, wickets and the protectivegears runs into thousands.Not only that, in cricket of all the 22players comprising the two opposingteams just three players, two batsmen anda bowler, actively play the game at a giventime. The rest of the 10 players supportingthe bowler are fielders who come inaction only when the ball is delivered inthe direction of any of them. Still, thenine players from the batting side are sittingidle waiting their turns to bat whichmay not come at all for some or most ofthe players. Is it not a wastage of timeand money when one is in the game butnot playing it.And many times the stretched out gamejust drags on creating the situation forthrill awaiting fans to either have briefnaps or yawn endlessly.Now, let us compare it with the strenuousgame of football. One ball and that is it.Twenty two players, and all of them, arevigorously involved in the play, running,jumping, hitting and bouncing in anaction-packed meditative focus on theball during entire duration of the game.Full value!Certainly, it won’t be a remorse feeling todowngrade cricket under the rising footballpopularity worldwide, but for thesake of involving every section of India’syouth for their much-needed physicalactivities it is worth the sacrifice.After all in Britain, where the game originatedand exported to its colonialdomains, cricket is gradually receding inpopularity and is being replaced by morelucrative sport of football.It is about time to end the cricket hype inIndia, it has gone too far.Promod Puri is the former owner and founder ofthe LINK newspaper.
