Premier Badminton League and Indian Sports

Have you ever wondered why India is not a sports power-house? Why India does not win medals in any sports events world-wide vis-a-vis her huge young population – the demography dividend? Why would no sports world-record, barring the ones in cricket, be in the name of Indians? Look no further.

Premier Badminton League will answer all the questions on why the Indian sports is in the doldrums. Premier Badminton League will answer why Indian sports shall not win an Olympics medal any time soon in near future.

Sports as a Showbiz

Premier Badminton League – Season 4 runs from 22nd December 2018 to 13th January 2019. It is a 23 days extravaganza. Ever wondered how a 23 days event can lead to developing a sports culture in the country? It comes more as an opportunity to the people who were late getting into the IPL circus to get covered by the media as a crusader of Indian sports and rub shoulders with top badminton talent in the country.

There will be marketing ploys to generate the TRPs and lead the people to the play-area to buy the tickets. Ever wondered how much focus would be on the sports itself?

Not a place for scouting / developing young talent

With the duration limited to just 23 days, Premier Badminton League cannot be considered a place to unearth a new talent for the Indian sports. There is no incentive for the franchise to invest in developing young sports-persons or run an academy. Rather, there is no motivation for the franchise to get involved with the sports itself apart from these 23 days.

How does this further the interest of Badminton, leave aside any Indian sports?

Apart from Super-stars, no focus on anyone else

All the headlines of Premier Badminton League will be limited to PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal. We will be told that they have earned the maximum of 80 lacs and so on.

What we will not be told is that apart from Sindhu and Saina, there are only 7 Indian shuttlers participating in Premier Badminton League – Women’s Singles. Of these 7, one will be paid 6 lacs, another one will get 2 lacs and remaining 5 will get 1 lacs each. That’s it.

There is no category of Women’s Doubles at all in the Premier Badminton League.

PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, of course, deserve 80 lacs and more, that is not a point of contention. Just that, unless a sports person is a world-beater, nobody is going to care in India.

Premier Badminton League similar to Target Olympic Podium Scheme

The Government of India has started a Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) so that we can win an Olympics medal. This scheme focuses on sports-persons and not on any Indian sports. Anybody doing well in his/her discipline will get identified by the Government and given financial help to overcome constraints and allow him/her to focus on the sports. Nothing wrong in this at all.

Just that it does nothing to improve the situation for the Indian sports at the grass-route level. It does not motivate any parents to encourage their children to take up sports on a full-time basis. It does not inspire any teenager to make a career out of sports unless s/he is a prodigy like Sindhu / Saina.

Conclusion

There is nothing to single out Premier Badminton League, as such. All sports leagues in the country are run as an entertainment industry, and not to further the cause of Indian sports. Except for the duration of the league, there is no mention of the sports itself, leave aside any investment in young talent/grass route level. Apart from the top draw of the athletes, everybody else is left to fend for one’s own self.

And we think why we do not have a sporting culture in the country? Why we do not win an Olympics medal?

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