Thomas Bach, the visit of the IOC president bares Indian sports

Flying kites is a national entertainment. The colourful kites decorate the sky, particularly adding to the charm of the festive atmosphere. The focus even during such an enjoyable exercise, is cutting each other ! There may be enough space in the sky, but the joy is in having a dominant presence.

The idea of hosting the Olympics in 2024 was one such attempt at kite flying. There was so much excitement associated with the visit of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach and his meeting with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi that it became a foregone conclusion that the discussion between the two leaders would be about India bidding to host the Games.

As the IOC president put it succinctly, the IOA was still ''finding its feet'', after serving the suspension. It had to regain its focus on improving the success of the Indian athletes in the international arena, especially in the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016. It had to first achieve ''unity in diversity''.

Yet, it was clear that it was not the IOA but the government which was keen to probe the possibilities of making an Olympic bid, from the reports emerging on the subject. Otherwise, it was difficult to explain the reported visit of the secretary of the Union Sports Ministry to the IOC headquarters in Lausanne along with the IOA president to invite Thomas Bach to India.

Even though it was easy to jump to conclusion about the intent of the government, it has to be remembered that Thomas Bach has already met more than 100 heads of State among the 205 member countries of the Olympic Movement, after becoming the IOC president in September 2013.

Maybe, the concerned parties wanted to strengthen the idea that Indian sport was a ''sleeping giant''. And it required the expertise of the IOC to find ways to awaken the sleeping giant. Whatever it may be, the message from the IOC was clear.

In the press conference that he addressed in Delhi after meeting the Prime Minister and before he hurriedly left the country, Thomas Bach did not utter a word about India hosting the Olympics till a question was raised on the subject.

''Of course, we were aware of the speculation. We were surprised for different reasons. It was a little bit too quick for India to have a successful Olympic Games in 2024. We were asking the question. The Prime Minister is sharing the same opinion'', said Bach.

What was clear was that the PM was surely looking to organise the Games but knew that such a venture required the government to be ''well prepared'' and that it was a ''bit difficult'' to propose a successful candidature by September this year.

''We will stay in contact for the future. For 2024, we share the same opinion'', clarified Bach.

What emerged from the dialogue was a tripartite agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), between the Union Government, the IOA and the IOC for the benefit of Indian sports.

''It was a constructive, good day. It was great to be back, first time as the IOC president. It gave us the opportunity to welcome again IOA, after the suspension ended last year. We had the opportunity to discuss the future of Indian sports that is bright'', said Bach.

First things first. India has to focus on athletes and help them fare better in international events, by providing them the best support in terms of training and coaching. The focus has to be on ensuring their qualification and participation in the Olympics in Rio next year.

''Athletes are at the heart of the Olympic Movement'', reminded Bach.

''One year after suspension, the IOA is still finding their feet. They first need to discuss and find their way for future success and how best to support athletes'', said Bach.

A solid foundation, from the assessment of Bach, was laid to address all the issues.

To move forward, different stakeholders need to recognise their responsibilities and fulfil them. First and foremost, the IOA has to respect its revised Constitution.

''Meeting the Prime Minister was excellent. It gave us an opportunity to express our appreciation of the Prime Minister and the Indian people for the exemplary way in helping Nepal with such a humanitarian spirit. We are full of admiration for the Indian government and the Indian people. IOC will assist Nepal when it comes to rebuilding the sports infrastructure and the Olympic Movement, after this tragedy'', said Bach, as he admired the spontaneous support of India for Nepal after it was ravaged by earthquake.

Coming back to Indian sports, Bach admitted that the Indian Prime Minister was well aware of sports being the key to building a strong society.

''The PM is very much determined to promote sports. He knows the value of sports in education and its role towards a cohesive society. In sport, all are equal. It is a great uniting force. You look for personal achievements by respecting the common rules'', said Bach, even as he talked about ideas of making sports mandatory in the educational system and making physical activity a must for all kids.

''The PM is clear that he would use all his authority and dynamism to wake up the sleeping giant. The IOC will be happy to assist. With a population of 1.2 billion people, and 80 million of them youth, India has a huge potential, in particular in sports. India could be a powerhouse in sports'', he said.

The IOC will assist in terms of coaching, technology for the athletes, and by providing training for administrators and coaches. It will also attempt to support Indian sports through the world wide Olympic television channel that is in the process of being launched.

In theory, there is never any dearth of words to support autonomy of sports.

''The Prime Minister is very much in favour of autonomy. Autonomy not just in sports but in the whole society'', Bach observed.

It may be recalled that it was because of government's intrusion into sports that India was kept out of the Olympic Movement for more than a year.

''The Prime Minister has invited us to have one of our future meetings here in India and to keep bilateral contact with him. We appreciate both invitations. It was a very good day for sports in India. We are looking forward to a strong Olympic team from India in the Olympic Games in Rio'', said Bach.

Moving on, Bach said that good governance and autonomy were two sides of the same coin. He indicated that with the agreement of last year, mutual respect had clearly been achieved, and the Prime Minister had expressed great satisfaction.

''We saw improvement (in the IOA), but need to improve more. There is a new constitution. It has to work. Everybody has to respect. I am very positive. The message got across'', he said.

When asked whether the IOC was aware of the undercurrents in the IOA, and that there was a ''no confidence motion'' brewing right in front of their nose, Bach said that he was not aware of it, but was quick to add that it was ''not new to India''.

''Even without knowing, we were sending the message and the appeal for unity. The motto of my presidential campaign was Unity in Diversity. It fits well with the IOA. Diversity makes India so rich. The IOA, national federations, State Olympic committees, they all need to focus on the athletes, make athletes successful and find unity among yourselves'', he said.

Unfortunately, in Indian sports, the athlete is the last and least in priority, while unity is a distant dream.

Indian basketball: It is not exactly a number game !

Indian basketball looks to be compensating for not being in the news for many years. Despite the cricket World Cup keeping every Indian glued to the fortunes of the Indian side, some newspapers have been able to provide the big headlines to the ongoing imbroglio.

With the Indian cricket team literally bleeding blue in Sydney in the semifinals on Thursday, some of the country's sporting concern is expected to be diverted towards the Annual General Meeting of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), scheduled to be held in Bengaluru on March 27.

Normally, the AGM is a routine affair and does not generate much interest. However, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the BFI, Roopam Sharma, has provided an unexpected twist by calling an AGM in Pune on March 28. Since, the CEO has been handling a lot of resources over the last three years, thanks to the benevolence of Reliance, a lot of people have thoughtfully sided with her.

However, the president of BFI, Rajdeep Singh Gill, is the Constitutional authority of the BFI, especially in terms of calling the AGM or in the more serious business of conducting the election.

The Union Sports Ministry_which incidentally has not granted annual recognition for BFI for 2015 as the federation had failed to amend its Constitution by incorporating the age and tenure class for the office bearers_has nominated Satyajit Sankrit as the government observer for the meeting in Bengaluru.

The International basketball federation, FIBA, has also appointed Mageshwaran Saba as the observer for the meeting in Bengaluru.

In a letter from Beirut, the FIBA regional director for Asia, Hagop Khajirian has conveyed that Saba would attend the meeting as an observer, and has intimated the same to the president of FIBA Asia, Saud Bin Ali Al-Thani.

The BFI president has already quoted the Constitution of the federation as well as the government guidelines in the form of Sports Code 2011, in emphasising that the CEO had no authority to appoint a Returning Officer or call a meeting in Pune on March 28. So, that meeting has already been labeled as `illegal'.

Only 44 names of the State and unit representatives were sent for the meeting in Bengaluru and that will serve as the electoral college.

The nominations for the various posts are as follows:

Presidnet : K. Govindaraj; Senior Vice president: Teja Singh Dhaliwal; Vice-presidents: Ajay Sud, Dr. DR Saini, Shafiq Sheikh, Bhupendra Shahi, L. Suren; Secretary general: Chander Mukhi Sharma; Associate secretaries: Shakti Sinh Gohil, Jugraj Singh, Gautam Ganguly, Fr. Ralin De Souza, T. Chandalraya Naidu; Treasurer: V. Ragothaman; Executive members: Manish Sharma, Ashley Do Rosario, TA Andrapathi, TVSN Prasad, Norman Isaac and Dr. Prakash Paquiaraj Sandou.

Indeed, it is a fair argument that the president was not in a position to accept nominations for the meeting in Pune, which was called without his consent as declared by the secretary general Ajay Sud, who had since resigned on moral grounds.

Ironically, as part of the amendments of the Constitution which was proposed months earlier, the BFI will remove the posts of CEO and deputy CEO. Only two CEOs, but poles apart in terms of how they executed their job for the welfare of the players.

It may be unfair to blame one person for all the ills of the BFI, but Harish Sharma, for whom the CEO post was created, was too much of an angel, and it was tough for anyone, to follow his foot steps, including his wife.

In the present context, it is indeed a very clear case of the CEO getting carried away by the power and financial clout, and being tempted to acquire the political influence, in her earnest attempt to hijack the federation.

Thus, it may eventually be proven to everyone that it is after all not a number game. For, numbers often do not tell the truth.

Indian basketball: Cat jumps out of the bag !

In the ongoing power struggle in the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), the cat is out of the bag !

Poonam Mahajan, the daughter of former Union Minister Pramod Mahajan, who was shot dead by his brother at his home in 2006, has been nominated for the post of president by the faction masterminded by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BFI, Roopam Sharma.

The 34-year-old Poonam, elected Member of Parliament, of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Mumbai North Central constituency, was inducted into Indian basketball straightaway as the president of the Maharashtra association in January. So, within three months, she would be the president of BFI, out of nowhere, if her case gets ratified.

Roopam herself would be the secretary general of the federation while Mukut Medhi, the vociferous member from Assam, has been nominated for the post of treasurer.

Much in contrast, the group headed by the president of BFI, RS Gill, who has served three terms in office, has nominated the senior vice president, K. Govindraj of Karnataka, for the post of president. Govindraj has been the secretary of Karnataka association for more than 15 years. He has also been president of the Karnataka Olympic Association. He has the experience, among others, of hosting the Asian basketball championship in Bengaluru.

Chander Mukhi Sharma of Chandigarh and V. Raghothaman of Puducherry have been nominated for the post of secretary general and treasurer respectively, by the group headed by RS Gill, who had combined strongly with the late Harish Sharma, in projecting a healthy image of the game.

Incidentally, the president alone is empowered by the Constitution of the BFI to decide on the election.

The secretary general of BFI, Ajay Sud who quit on being forced to change the venue of the election from Bengaluru to Pune, made a categorical announcement that he had made the change without the approval of the president, and had allowed his authority to be usurped by a 'scanned signature''. His çlarification has been conveniently sidelined as that of ''Himachal Pradesh secretary general'' by the CEO, while she has vehemently questioned the authority of the president to accept the resignation of Ajay Sud !

Moreover, the president has also been accused of not entertaining part of the electoral college. Interestingly, most of the member associations nominated members to both the meetings in Bengaluru on March 27 and Pune on March 28. Some of them sent the nominations only for the Pune meeting to the BFI office, for which the president had not advised any notice.

Moreover, the president was clear that only elected members of the state could be nominated, whereas people like Nandini Basappa of Karnataka has been nominated from Assam, and Ashok Rangeen of Delhi, from Rajasthan !

It is also pointed out that most of the members, with honourable exceptions, supporting the CEO group have done precious little for basketball in their state, and hardly field teams for the national championships. However, in a democratic set up, there is an equality of right for competence and mediocrity, experience and youthful arrogance, that cannot be questioned.

For sure, running a national federation is not a bed of roses. It is a struggle to conduct every national championship, and the numerous age group events, apart from building the various national teams. With the rich resources from Reliance, ensuring a better life for the players at least during the national championships, the biggest challenge of rising resources is not faced by the current set up of BFI.

That explains the urge of all and sundry to jump into the administration, to control and capitalise on the readily available resources. Like the overwhelming support of the government, the beauty of Indian sports is that every solution leads to many problems !

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the Union Sports Ministry have the power to set the house in order, but they are also often driven by the political will and vested interests.

In such a scenario, it may be difficult to ensure justice. But, hope springs eternal, and miracles do happen.

Why blame anyone, when the scriptures had spelt long ago that anarchy would spread its tentacles in the Kali Yuga, reducing morality and speeding up the degeneration of civilisation !

Indian basketball: A dream gone sour !

The rigid stand of the Chief Executive Officer of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), Roopam Sharma, has further strengthened the division of Indian basketball.

The blame is being pinned on the CEO, even though two parties are pulling the federation in two opposite directions, as it was she who has gone on to hijack the powers of the federation after it was agreed by the senior members of the federation to have the Annual General Meeting in Bengaluru on March 27.

Interestingly, there is a note prepared by the secretary general, Ajay Sud, in which all the eight officials, including the CEO and deputy CEO, Prem Pal, have signed, agreeing to the original venue and date.

President RS Gill, K. Govindaraj, Teja Singh Dhaliwal, Ajay Sud, Dr. DR Saini and Ashok Rangeen were the other members who were party to the decision taken at the meeting on February 26, in Delhi.

''The meeting was chaired by Sh. RS Gill, President, Basketball Federation of India. Sh. RS Gill requested all members present to work together to form a new body, for which elections are due in March 2015. After a detailed discussion, it was resolved that the meeting will be held at Bangaluru on 27^th March 2015'', reads the note signed by the secretary general, which has been endorsed by all the eight senior members of BFI with their signature..

With two venues for the AGM in Bengaluru and Pune, on two dates March 27 and 28, there are two sets of documents, including the electoral college, which has caused considerable anguish in some quarters.

The electoral college, as published by the CEO on the BFI website has 62 names, whereas the one issued by the President has only 44. The rest of the names had apparently been sent only to the BFI office. Moreover, the president had restricted the nominations by the state units only to ''elected members of the respective association''.

Actually, the CEO has pleaded with the president in a letter dated March 11, seeking to correct the validity of nominations, requesting him to ''kindly circulate the revised notification in this regards to all affiliated units urgently''.

There is a strong communication from the general secretary of the Assam Basketball Association, Mukut Medhi, a vice president of BFI, written a week later, suggesting ''ulterior motive'' by the president and his ''cohorts''.

''Your arbitrary actions/decisions are bound to create friction among the members and divide BFI further. They are definitely not in the interest of BFI, nor the sport that we endeavour to promote. This also sends a wrong signal to our partners, IMG Reliance, who are the major source of our finance'', writes Medhi, in his letter to the president.

Well, the finance from IMG Reliance, to the tune of a few crore rupees every year, is already a dream gone sour for the players, even though millions are being spent in conducting the various national championships and national camps from the fund.

The former secretary general Harish Sharma for whom the post of CEO was formed after he had completed two terms, had announced the distribution of about 36 lakh rupees to the players, including juniors, and coaches, in January 2011. The graded payment with the leading players getting Rs.30,000 per month, the second line, Rs.20,000 and the juniors Rs.10,000 was awarded in retrospective effect from October 2010, during the presentation ceremony of the national championship in Delhi.

However, as one player put it succinctly, the payments to the players was stopped abruptly, ''when Harish Sharma was hospitalised''.

The much loved Harish who single-mindedly strove for the welfare of the players died of tuberculosis in brain in February 2012. His wife Roopam was requested, by the BFI president RS Gill and his team, to take charge of the post of CEO in March 2012. The steering committee's decision to draft her was ratified by the AGM then.

Roopam on her part, promised to uphold the high standards set by her husband in promoting the game, when she took charge as the CEO.

Much in contrast, months later, it was decided to abolish the posts of CEO and deputy CEO by the BFI, and part of the current power struggle has been triggered by such an attempt. The basic friction at this stage is caused by the move of the president to amend the Constitution of the federation, to bring it back to its original form.

Otherwise, it is difficult to fathom the reluctance of the CEO to take over the reins of the federation as the secretary general. In fact, the Gill faction has kept the post of secretary general still open for Roopam, even though she has other designs.

She may not take a salary from BFI, as Roopam is working in Indian Airlines, but it is felt that there is a lot of expenses on the CEO, running into a few lakh rupees every year, and the deputy CEO who is also paid a handsome salary apart from perks.

In trying to extend a strong support for Harish Sharma, the BFI had inadvertently bequeathed a lot of powers to the present CEO. If you ask for trouble, you invariably get it.

Even though the Union government has responded to the request of BFI for an observer for the election, ''to be held in Pune'', it has addressed the communication to the secretary general. The government generally deals only with the secretary general or the president. The position of CEO is a rare new phenomenon in some sports federations. Looking at the present development, the idea of CEO may not find much favour, owing to the considerable complications, even though it opens new avenues for people to hold on to power.

On the other hand, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has taken note of the meeting in Pune, and written back to the CEO, even though Gill and his team are persuading the concerned parties to realise that they alone have the Constitutional authority to conduct the AGM and the related meetings, in Bengaluru.

The plot should thicken soon, as it is almost time to finalise the nominations for various posts. It is surprising why nobody has taken the matter to court as yet.

Maybe, it is because Indian basketball has temporarily stopped being played on a court with distinct lines.

There is no doubt that Indian basketball is indeed a dream gone sour !

Indian basketball, split explicit !

Indian basketball that had stood united for long, is a divided house today.

The president of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) RS Gill, a
retired police officer, and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Roopam
Sharma, have issued different circulars that have caught the members
by surprise.

In effect, the Annual General Meeting of the BFI has been scheduled to
be held in Bengaluru on March 27 and in Pune on March 28, by the two
factions.

While there is no doubt that it would be convenient for everyone concerned
to hold the AGM and a series of meetings in Pune, on the eve of the
Federation Cup to be held there from March 29, it was originally
everyone’s accepted idea to host the meeting in Bengaluru on March 27.

In fact, after a meeting of the leading office bearers of the
federation including the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) it was
unanimously agreed to elevate the senior vice president of BFI, K.
Govindaraj as the president and to have CEO Roopam Sharma as the
secretary general.

Quite significantly, it was also decided in the meeting that the post
of the CEO would be abolished as it was basically meant to accommodate
the late Harish Sharma after he had completed two terms as the
secretary general, and was not eligible to continue further in that
post as per the government guidelines.

On the death of Harish Sharma, his wife Roopam Sharma was elected as
the CEO in March 2012, Prem Pal Singh had been serving as the
deputy CEO from the time of Harish. There has been a power struggle for quite some time, as
the financial control apparently rested with the CEO with IMG-Reliance
pumping a few crores of rupees every year for the development of the game.

The attempted amendment of the BFI Constitution to scratch the posts of CEO and deputy CEO has been hanging fire for nearly two years.

Meanwhile, a communication to the members was sent on February 28 about the AGM,
with a promise that the details would follow shortly, as advised by the BFI
president. However, the secretary general of the BFI, Ajay Sud, sent a
circular on March 2, stating that the AGM would be held in Pune on
March 28. Perturbed at having to go against the original understanding and 
directive of the president, the secretary general tendered his resignation the same
day, after sending the circular.

‘’On moral ground and taking responsibility for what has happened, I
extend my resignation . . . ‘’, wrote Ajay Sud, in his communication
to the president, with copies to all the members of the association.

He has since revealed that he had allowed his signature to be used for
the second circular.

''I was pressured by some people to change the venue of meetings to Pune 
for which I gave my consent without the approval of President under 
my scanned signatures on 2nd March 2015. As this action of mine was 
not according to my conscience and moral values. . . 
I resigned from the post of Secretary General'', clarified
Ajay Sud on Thursday.

The president RS Gill, who has served three terms in
office and will be stepping aside after the AGM, took charge of the
situation by sending the circulars to the members and also appointing
a Returning Officer for the election to be held in Bengaluru on March
27, as he derived the powers to do so in the absence of the secretary general, 
as per the Constitution of the BFI.

However, the BFI with its headquarters in Delhi, swung into action and
called the actions of the president as ‘illegal’ and
‘unconstitutional’. It has also sought the intervention of the Union
Sports Ministry and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), stressing
that the president had no authority to act the way he had done. 

‘’Under the given circumstances, the President should have called for
an emergency meeting of the Executive Board to discuss the status and
to take the consent of the General House’’, wrote CEO Roopam Sharma,
emphasising that she had the ‘’sole legal authority to represent BFI
including all correspondence as per the constitution of BFI’’.

Of course, the BFI Constitution is clear on the subject and categorically gives the 
power to the president, to act the way he has done.

With the communication channels between the two power centres
irreparably broken, the members have now been
torn apart, and wonder where they should head for the AGM.

It is understood that the whole unpleasant scenario has been caused
owing to the spontaneous attempt to accommodate a young political
personality as the head of the federation, possibly to channelise the power of the Union
Government !

The character of the Sports Ministry, which keeps referring to the Sports Code 
at the drop of a hat,  will be put to the acid test now.

Oh, it has been too long since I visited this page. Am sorry for staying away. Time has come to revive this blog, as I think I have a lot to say !

What a start for Indian tennis . . .

It was not a surprise that Indian tennis got off to a robust start for the season.

There was a lot written about Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, quite understandable as the 22-year-old had rocketed from 715 to No.64 in the world. The reluctance of the Indian media to ignore our players and find faults with them was also natural.

What was not noticed was that Yuki Bhambri was playing solid tennis, and had reached the next level and had the cooperation of a strong body to back his tennis dreams. He had narrowly missed winning the singles wild card for the Australian Open but had hinted at his versatility by winning the doubles wild card in China a few weeks ago.

 It was solid tennis that won as Yuki prevailed 6-4, 6-3 against the ‘most improved player’ on the Tour. Having won a Challenger in Australia apart from making the final of a $125,000 tournament in Chinese Taipei as a qualifier, the 21-year-old Yuki had not only learnt the art of playing a consistent good level but also providing the finishing touch to a match.

The former world No.1 junior and the Youth Olympics runner-up Yuki is ready to rock the tennis world in the new season with the support of his coach Aditya Sachdeva, who himself has hit the next level in terms of coaching ability, apart from the young trainer Nasir Ahmed. A strong family support, with sisters Ankita and Sanaa who had both represented the country with distinction, and parents Indu and Chander, playing a splendid role, Indian tennis does have a champion in the making in Yuki, with a big game.

It may have been a shock for many that the country’s No.1 Somdev Devvarman lost to qualifier R. Ramkumar, better known as the national champion who has been winning the singles titles in recent ITF Futures events at home and abroad, the lowest rung in the professional circuit.

It was ironical to see the huge photo of Ramkumar, celebrating one of the many exciting points that he won, on the pages that had struggled to accommodate his face in the smallest of photos that had ever been published in the history of newspapers. It was a photo that Ramkumar himself had to arrange from Cambodia ! Ramkumar may soon face reality yet again, but he will be recognised as a player of considerable potential.

Coming back to Chennai, Ramkumar rode on his big forehand, much to the delight and pride of his coach T. Chandrasekaran, who had groomed him for a few years, before he moved to Europe for better training with the support of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA). Of course, Karti Chidambaram, the brain behind the players’ development scheme of TNTA, was proud about the 19-year-old Ramkumar coming of age on the big stage, as he gave him a warm hug after he dumped the country’s No.1.

Of course, a lot needs to be tuned with Ramkumar’s game and approach, but he will learn them a lot quicker now, after having tasted success at a high level, in front of a home crowd that adored him like a champion.

It was a stumble for the 90^th ranked Somdev, but he will continue to be successful as he has really worked very hard to return to the top after a shoulder surgery. It was just a wake-up call for Somdev who was unduly subdued on court, as was noticed by Vijay Amritraj and Enrico Piperno from their commentary position.

From the court-side view, the new Davis Cup captain Anand Amritraj must have been pleased with the options opening up before the first round Asia-Oceania tie against Chinese Taipei in Indore from January 31 to February 2.

The former national champion Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, who had reached some of the difficult corners of the world in 2013, at times without his racquet bag, to become the third best Indian singles player in the ranking list, was not his usual self in his first round as a wild card. He was up against a good player, a fellow left-hander, but Jeevan lacked the belief, the conviction to play his best.

The whole trick is to play your best and stay with your opponent. It is easily said than done. Ramkumar drove a few hard core tennis followers mad with his choice of shots, but overall was quite hungry. He believed in God more than his game, but will soon realise the need to stay focused rather than get distracted. In contrast, Somdev may need some of those distractions to get out of a rut when he gets into one during a match.

A lot of people who keep harping about the lack of supreme physical fitness in the Indian tennis players, miss the point completely. With all respect to their training regimen, Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh Bhupathi had proved the pundits wrong in reaching the higher echelons of the game and staying there for long. There is a plethora of young players who are ready to follow suit.

Tennis should remain the focus. The players need to get good technique, a flexible and strong body to back their dreams. You want to see the flair and firepower of a player with the heart of a champion, not robots in action, who may put you to sleep.

We have not talked about the fortunes of Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna. Yet, there has been a lot to write on Indian tennis. That is a great sign at the start of 2014 !