Dec 30: In sport, where mere winners have to make room for champions, there was this Indian fairy tale being played out on the world stage. It didn't take too long in the making. A win here, a break there and everything fell into place so well that Indian sport, so unaccustomed to world-wide fame, is still grappling with the enormity of the situation.It is yet to come in terms with the kind of success, the two tennis players, Leander Adrian Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, achieved in the year gone by. Hemmed in by performances ranging from the mediocre to the mundane, their world number four ranking and a place in the doubles World Championship final, apart from their Davis Cup performances, turned out to be the only ray of hope, of course with the possible exception of a Viswanathan Anand or a Jeev Milkha Singh.
But has Indian sport given them their exalted place in history they so richly deserve? Nobody expected the country to give them a standing ovation, when they returned to India two days after the
Hartford championships. The fact that they fell just one match short of being world champions was simply lost on the millions whose addiction to a game which has brought the country only disgrace and ignominy was something even the best de-addiction centres could not have cured.
Therein lies the tragedy of Indian sport. The seeming inability to distinguish potential world champions from a bunch of mere sportsmen. In a country where a pitch makes more news than Anand's charge towards the world title in the Netherlands, what chance does Paes and Bhupathi stand? Let's not forget the fact that they are some of the few Indian sporstmen who have broken free of the typical Indian mindset -- defeated even before getting onto the field.
Says Paes, "The future of sport in the country would be rather bleak unless we undergo a drastic change in the way we look at things. It will take years for the mentality to change. We have to make a beginning somewhere and I think we have managed to do that." Thankfully, they
don't seem to be unduly bothered over the absolute indifference that have come to cloud their achievements.
"People are starting to take notice," says Paes. Even when he argues that their job is to win than wait for accolades to pour in, the fact remains these two have gone far ahead of the typical Indian sportsmen, the flannelled ones included. They are now in the company of the very best -- fifth among the hundreds of teams which set out in search of similar glory. Anyway, that looks so much better than being seventh out of eight teams or ninth out of 10.
May be they may not repeat the success next year or they could even go further up. But their place in Indian sport's Hall of Fame is unlikely to change. A place in the third row, and if they are lucky they could just squeeze into the second.
As Bhupathi says their success has a lot to do with the fact they have matured with every win or every match. "No doubt, it has been a great year and it has a lot to do with our coaches Bob (Carmichael) and Rico
(Enrico Piperno). To be honest, we didn't expect to do so well. I think we just got the right break and perhaps a bit lucky."
Paes pays rich tributes to his Australian coach, Carmichael. "He is the best coach I could have ever had. Definitely I attribute the success to his guidance and my hardwork and a lot of belief in each other."
What if their fellow countrymen failed to take notice. The sponsors, the people who matter the most in modern sport, have. That is a sure sign of recognition if one looks at it from an commercial point of view. While they wouldn't grudge that at all, particularly that sweet smell of money, would they be unduly disturbed about the Great Indian Indifference?
The best year is behind them and the question now is how many better years should they enjoy to make people tune into this universally-played game. The new year will provide Paes-Bhupathi with big opportunities beginning with the Australian Open. Well, Bhupathi has shown that Indians can be among the Grand Slam winners.
With Paes leading from the front, is it that tough to hope?
As Paes' most cliched statement goes: "Whatever happens, happens."
Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
