It’s a very funny story. Four sons are born to a farmer, who just about earns enough to feed his family. Time goes by, the farmer puts his sons through school and they begin the journey of life. While one grows rich and famous, and comes to be loved by all, the others stutter in life, face hardships, due to no fault of their own. And when the time of reckoning comes, the three blame the prosperous one for their downfall!

Let me begin by saying, when the Indian hockey team was winning all those golds at the Olympics and other events, and everyone was behind the team, it was declared the national sport and no-one ever heard cricketers or administrators complaining. When Vijay Amritraj created history by becoming the first Indian to reach the semi finals of a Grand Slam at Wimbledon the country was engulfed in tennis-mania. Cricket never complained.

It wasn’t until 1983 when the Indians beat the West Indies in their prime to clinch the World Cup at Lord’s. Then cricket in India began to take off. And three years later India won the Champion of Champions tournament in Australia, again beating West Indies in the final. Indian cricket produced some international superstars like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Bishen Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna and Dilip Vengsarkar, along with national heroes like Gundappa Vishwanath, Roger Binny and Mohinder Amarnath. Even administrators such as NKP Salve became hot property at the international arena becoming the chief of the ICC.

Football was never a sport Indians patronised  - the fact that they were barred from playing in the World Cup due to lack of professional footwear meant that the sport died a premature death domestically. So while Indian hockey plummeted to the floor and beyond, and football ceased to exist, cricket's star rose. And as the cricket son made good, so the poorer brothers started falling prey to corruption and mismanagement.

In the 90s Sachin Tendulkar came on the scene and cricket became hot property. Money spoke and the BCCI found ways to make more and more. 

In fact, the Board has recently started paying an annual amount to the farmer (the government of India) to take care of the rest of his sons. But the ranting, it seems, will never stop until another sport takes its place in the future. That sport it seems, may be football.

With the coming of cable television, English football caught the nation’s imagination with the Premier League rising in popularity. The effect can be felt at junior level with talented youngsters but again, the administration of the game is bad. Cricket is still supreme, the game is blamed for football's lack of progress.

Ultimately, it’s time the Indian Sports Ministry took charge of the situation. Dr. MS Gill, the sports minister recently removed the fraudulent people from the Indian Hockey Federation. Hopefully he can do the same with football and tennis, but not at the expense of cricket!