Brimming with possibilities

It seems, there has to be bad news before the start of a New Year. As the sun sets in 2022 and the first rays of 2023 bring hope, news of Pele passing away can never be forgotten. Legend, superstar, icon, football magician, a wonderful human being who graced lucky Kolkata, there is a bit of Pele in all of us. He battled cancer and then went to sleep, in deep slumber.

Let Indian athletes invoke Pele's spirit and perform in 2023. For, he defined greatness, without being a commercial football star. Obviously, you cannot expect today's generation of big athletes to play their respective sport just for fun, without commercial deals and endorsements. Sport and athletes today are an amalgam of performance and a robust business model, across several disciplines.

Year 2023 will be huge. Yes, the number of Covid-19 cases in China are peaking. It's across all cities, thanks to a flawed lockdown policy. Opening up, finally, China is witnessing more deaths, more people fighting the disease. Asia, parts of Europe and the USA are also witnessing a rise in cases. The fear is not like what was witnessed majorly in 2020, 2021 and 2022. In 2023, the world will be fighting Covid, equipped much better with more vaccines and treatment protocols.

From a sporting point of view, this year is vital for India, Indians and the rest of the world. Bang in January, the FIH World Cup, hockey's showpiece event, will be held in Odisha, a state which has embraced hockey so lovingly, thanks to the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. For brand-new world-class infrastructure to come up in Rourkela, better known for its steel plant, and Bhubaneshwar, is a big bonus.

This is the state which produced former India captain Dilip Tirkey. The star defender of yesteryears is now the President of Hockey India. As a former player, Tirkey's passion is intact and he will ensure that all teams coming for the World Cup enjoy the warmth of the state. Good hockey is on cards, though all fans of Indian hockey will want to see their own team do well.

Competing at home is an advantage, and coach Graham Reid, who guided the team to a bronze in the Tokyo Olympics, realises the importance of this World Cup. He is also aware how 2023 is the year where India can qualify for the Paris Olympics in 2024, provided they win the gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, this September. Sounds easy? No, it still hurts that India bombed in the last Asian Games in Jakarta, 2018.

The women's hockey team, too, under Janneke Schopman, has been doing well, with a win at the Nations Cup recently. They will also know how important it is to do well in the Asian Games. A fourth-place finish in Tokyo was tearful. So, to do well in 2023 and peak in 2024 will be imperative.

Indeed, the Asian Games is very important for several other disciplines as well. Several Olympic qualifiers in a year where the calendar is action-packed will be watched closely. From hockey to athletics, boxing to shooting and wrestling to weightlifting, each sport needs to see Indian athletes start peaking again.

India did fairly well at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022. Yet, if you were to compare it with the last Asian Games in 2018, there is massive improvement. This could well signal how India builds up for the Paris Olympics, which is just 19 months away.

Shooting has no quota places at the Asian Games but, in 2023, the young crop and seasoned performers will have to fire at their best, be it in pistol, rifle or shotgun. The Government of India spends crores of rupees in training, coaching, camps, exposure trips and so on. So, the shooters have to do well and perform in important World Cups to gain maximum quota places for Paris. The performance of Indian shooters in Palembang, Indonesia, during the last Asiad was horrendous. There was a repeat in Tokyo 2021. Hopefully, coaches will ignore personal agendas and work together.

The good part is that a few foreign coaches, along with a high-performance manager, have been hired. Proof of long hours put in at the lonely shooting ranges can be said to be productive only if it results in medals. With Olympic bronze medallist Gagan Narang in an important role in the Indian Olympic Association now, he can be a guiding force for the Indian shooters. After all, he has been running the Gun for Glory project. India needs glory from shooting, as soon as possible.

To be sure, one of the problems in Indian sport is going back to the same set of superstars again and again. We need new faces, new champions, a new crop to emerge. It is unfair to expect Neeraj Chopra, PV Sindhu, Mirabai Chanu and a few familiar wrestlers to rinse, repeat, rinse and rise. No, India needs new champions who can perform in 2023 at the Asian Games, in all sports. Flogging the same athletes and hyping them alone is not ideal. Neeraj, Sindhu and Mirabai have been the beacons of Indian sport. The next generation has to learn from them as well as challenge them.

Shooting has shown that new faces can grab the chances and perform. Badminton, too, has seen a new champion in Lakshya Sen. He has a lot of potential but the promise has to turn into a giant performance. Qualifying standards for 2024 Paris are out, so Indian track and field will also be planning better. The acid test will be the Asian Games, as the standard of competition will be very high. All those who follow races, field events and more will vouch Indian athletics has shown versatility. More medals, more winners are welcome.

Swimming is another sport where India has shown potential, with Srihari Nataraj catching the eye. Today, no Indian athlete can offer an excuse that he or she did not get exposure, coaches, trips abroad and so on. Each sport has got fulsome support from the Indian government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. What the government spends is massive, overall, though private NGOs will also want to raise their hands.

In table tennis, judo, fencing, and certain lesser-known sports, India needs to showcase in 2023, at various events, that they have the zest and zing. Equestrian saw Fouad Mirza do well in Jakarta and, for all the hype, Bhavani Devi needs to prove she has also been slogging as a fencer. Sadly, in Indian tennis, there is no hope. It has hit the nadir, after the highs of Leander Paes winning a bronze medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

With e-sport now recognised by the Indian government, they, too, can win in the 'Olympic Week' in 2023 in Singapore. E-sport has been in existence for a while, just that India now realises that it can possibly fetch medals in the longer run.

No discussion on Indian sport is complete without a mention of cricket. The last few years have seen turmoil, be it at the ICC T20 World Cup or the World Test Championship. The ICC World Cup (ODI format) will be a big challenge as India are hosts. Playing at home is supposed to be an advantage. MS Dhoni showed in 2011 that India could emerge as champions with his leadership and performance.

To celebrate a big fat Indian Premier League (IPL) is fine, but to show intent and perform in the World Cup this year is a natural ask from fans. Captaincy has become a major issue and if Virat Kohli was blamed for not winning an ICC trophy with coach Ravi Shastri, Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid are also being watched. Unless, of course, the BCCI brings in a new "white ball coach."

Frankly speaking, the BCCI needs to plan better. Knee-jerk reactions like "sacking" the selection committee is optics. The BCCI must show professionalism in hiring the right people and the new selection committee must view and build teams for different formats. To flog the same players in all formats has been cruel. Remember how Jasprit Bumrah has broken down?

Test, T20 and ODIs, India has the chance to groom youngsters and leaders. The BCCI is the Big Daddy and Roger Binny must demonstrate that he is not a puppet President. There is a plethora of talent available, as has been witnessed in the IPL and domestic cricket events. Pick the right boys, please.

Women's cricket, too, is important. They have their own IPL in 2023. Hopefully, the musical chairs featuring coaches will stop. The impression now is captains call the shots and can get coaches jettisoned. That is an unhealthy trend and needs to be done away with.

Happy 2023. Indian athletes will bring us joy in the form of medals and trophies.

Views expressed are personal