The eternal optimist in me believes that nothing can come in the way of sport being the balm that can soothe the surging emotions and, at the same, be the fuel that will drive the intense passion to watch competitive sport in the sub-continent. At the moment, all that is threatened as logic seems to be in severe short supply.
There was so little logic in the manner in which the Indian Premier League franchisees collectively ignored the claims of Pakistan players. There was none when it was suggested that franchisees had made the decision because they had taken their teams’ balance into account. “If a team has one player to buy, will it buy a player of 100 per cent chance of risk? Obviously not!” IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi said.
To my mind, the Commonwealth Games is not so much about whether Usain Bolt sprints in Delhi or not but it is about the great opportunity for India to become a sports conscious nation. It is not about whether the best British athletes come or not but it is about a chance for India to encourage its young to go out and play and not just watch superb televised sport in awe.
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