India’s cricket team in Sri Lanka hit all the right notes in the first two ODIs, winning both matches brilliantly, surprising even those doubting the depth of talent in the country, with the Test series starting in England for the first time. What happened to another team for the week of August.
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However, this is not the first time India has played two international teams together. In 1998, one Indian team was playing an ODI series against Pakistan in Canada, while the other team was in Kuala Lumpur, participating in the Commonwealth Games. And it was not as if a second telegram was sent for any tournament.
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The team in Toronto was led by Sourav Ganguly and included Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Azharuddin, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad. The Commonwealth Games team was led by Ajay Jadeja and included Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman and Rohan Gavaskar.
The BCCI was not originally inclined to send a team to the Commonwealth Games. A movement of sorts had begun to bring cricket into the Olympics, but for almost a decade the Indian cricket establishment resisted all attempts and pressure to move in this direction.
The BCCI, as of now, wanted to protect its control over cricket, believing that playing in multi-disciplinary tournaments would reduce its power over the players as well as the game’s finances. It cited a packed international itinerary and lack of cricket infra at multidisciplinary events to stay away.
The Indian Olympic Association, headed by Suresh Kalmadi, was intent on making the BCCI a national sports federation accountable to the IOA and, by extension, the government. Kalmadi claimed that he was trying to make cricket an Olympic sport.
Under the leadership of powerful administrators like Jagmohan Dalmiya and IS Bindra, the BCCI felt a threat to the independence of the BCCI – as well as their own powers thwarted all such attempts. Since the 1983 World Cup victory – and especially after the economy opened up in 1991 – India’s dominance had grown exponentially and their ambitions had grown proportionately.
In fact in 1997, Dalmiya became the President of the International Cricket Council – the first Asian to do so – putting Indian cricket at the forefront of the game. Obviously the BCCI will not be ready to play another role for the IOA. (Dalmiya and Bindra parted ways with each other this time, but that’s a story for another day).
However, the late 1990s was a very politically volatile time in India, and sensing some degree of hostility towards its obstinate stance in the public, the BCCI, in a conciliatory gesture, decided to send a team to the Commonwealth Games. offered. But there is no dispute with the IOA about who should be in this team.
The IOA clearly wanted all the top players in Indian cricket to be in Kuala Lumpur. The BCCI put its foot down that it was impossible because of its commitment to a bilateral series against Pakistan in Canada. The bone of contention was Sachin Tendulkar, the biggest box office draw in cricket at the time, and there was demand from both sides.
After a verbal tussle between the BCCI and the IOA, the cricket board went soft and named Tendulkar in the squad for the Commonwealth Games. This then spawned two teams of almost equal strength and star value, one for Kuala Lumpur, the other for Toronto.
As it happened, India’s performance in the Commonwealth Games was not exceptional. The team failed to make the quarter-finals (South Africa beat Australia in the final), dashing the hopes of the IOA and cricket fans who had hoped for a medal, whatever the colour.
There was no joy for the BCCI either as Ganguly & Co were defeated 4-1 by Pakistan in Canada. This proved to be a double whammy, to neither the IOA nor the BCCI, and over the next few years all talk of India’s support for the inclusion of cricket in the Olympics went silent. But it didn’t die.
While India remained adamant, countries such as Australia and New Zealand – led by some marquee players – rekindled interest in making cricket an Olympic sport. Steve Waugh and Adam Gilchrist were strong supporters that the Olympics represented the highest stage for any athlete.
However, it was not just the cricketing world that was divided. The International Olympic Committee was also unsure of the viability of cricket becoming an Olympic sport, for infrastructure reasons, ODIs taking too long (Tests were in question!), and most importantly, not enough cricket. were not. Country.
The advent of T20 cricket in 2004 sparked a renewed impetus to bring cricket to the Olympics. The IOC, seeing the huge increase in the popularity and funding of the format through bilateral and multinational tournaments as well as leagues around the world, was able to take the discussion forward. So the cricket board too, even the BCCI has completely come out of the negativity.
That Caribbean nations would play in the Olympics as independent nations – not as in the cricket universe as the West Indies – was a quick fix for the lack of teams. It did a great job in the 1998 Commonwealth Games and can be replicated.
Cricket has been a part of the Summer Olympics, but this was more than 12 decades ago (in 1900), and only two teams, England and France, participated. There has been a concerted effort over the past decade to make T20 a part of the Olympics, beginning with the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, albeit as a demo sport.
Among the mighty cricket boards, Australia and England were in total agreement for a long time. With the BCCI deciding to send men’s and women’s teams to the LA Games in 2028, it has crossed a major hurdle. Cricket’s beginnings may last until the end of the decade, with the Olympics ending after a solitary appearance in 1900.
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