Winning is sweeter when everyone lends a hand

The planets seem to be in a very benevolent mood as far as Indian sport goes. One national paper quoted astrologer K N Rao as saying that th...

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The planets seem to be in a very benevolent mood as far as Indian sport goes. One national paper quoted astrologer K N Rao as saying that this is due to a planetary formation ‘‘Shukla Panchami Ayushman Yoga with the moon in tula, a phase considered to be good for balanced achievement in sport.’’

This phase, he predicted, would continue till October 13 for India. And, whether or not you believe in astrology, you have to admit that it’s been good news so far for India. In this period Indian athletes, notably women, have finished second only to China, the cricket team has won the first Test…only the hockey team contrived to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory after clawing back from the edge of the precipice in the Asiad final.

The bit about ‘‘balanced achievement in sport’’ is heartening. After a choked start the Indian athletes suddenly surged ahead on the tracks at Busan. The victories in women athletics are a reminder of the mid-and-late eighties when P T Usha and Shiny Abraham blazed the Asian tracks. This time again, the charge is led by women — out of the six gold medals as of Saturday, five have been accounted for by Indian women with Bahadur Singh (shot putt) the lone exception.

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Interestingly, the haul is not because of any one individual but the result of an entire team’s effort. We have not one gold medallist but five — Beenamol, Saraswati Saha, Sunita Rani, Anju George and Neelam Singh. Frankly speaking, five golds by five different athletes speak much better for the depth of talent than all five gold medals by one individual. When Usha dominated Indian athletics the feeling for an aspiring athlete was not of inspiration but of awe. She seemed to be too good to be emulated.

But when many win, it gives hopes to many more. The task suddenly seems achievable for many more youngsters and it gives them the heart to give it a try. In recent months something similar has also been witnessed in cricket. In virtually no time the team has transformed from a one-man wonder to an all-round team. No longer does a deafening silence follow Sachin Tendulkar’s dismisal. Instead, there’s a round of applause to welcome the new batsman.

I still remember the call from a friend after the NatWest final on July 13. He told me that he hadn’t stopped kicking himself for walking out of Lord’s after Tendulkar’s exit at 142 for five. He had obviously not reckoned with the abilities of Mohammed Kaif and Yuvraj Singh and denied himself the opportunity to witness a historic event.

The all-round performance is the reason why the team is winning. If Sehwag doesn’t do it then Ganguly will, if they both fail then they can fall back on Tendulkar and Dravid and if they also fail then Yuvraj and Kaif might swing it around. Even the bowlers and fielders seem more inspired.

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The effort and aggro of youngsters like Zaheer and Harbhajan has also rubbed off on to veterans like Kumble. The nip he generated on Saturday had Parthiv Patel call for a helmet.

It is important that this phase of good balanced achievement continues. The planets, even if they did help this time, would not always help. The players and officials will have to carry this forward. Both the Sports Ministry and BCCI had quickly announced substantial prize monies for the winners after the Commonwealth Games and the NatWest Trophy, respectively.

Do that when you decide to celebrate the results of ICC Champions Trophy/Test win and the Asian Games but please also try to evaluate the reasons for the success and improve the formula for the future. Use these wins to move forward, not to sit back and celebrate.