1. Too much Importance to Cricket :Cricket has been given outmost importance in India.

Games like hockey and Tennis have

also gained popularity in the past but sports like judo, karate, rugby, football and squash are
generally ignored by the masses.
2. Societal Pressure:Sports is thought to be a leisure activity in the country. Sports as a profession is largely
condemned. The people prefer traditional careers over sports. Education is considered a prerequisite to attain success. Sports is barely given any importance in schools. The players have
to struggle between their rigorous practice schedule and school timings. They often have to
choose between education or sports and the former wins almost every time.
3. Lack of Remuneration
Life of a sportsmen is considered more of a struggle and less of an achievement. The
profession guarantees financial safety only for those who are famous; the ones who are still
struggling to establish their identity are hardly given any remuneration. Most of the potential
sport-persons experience disillusionment and stress from the very beginning of their career
and usually end up sacrificing their dreams.
4. Costs
The costs of equipments and other facilities are very high. For example: most of the protein
supplements are imported from Europe. A small bottle of protein costs about Rs. 4,000 in
India but the same bottle is considerably cheap for the European players in their currency.
5. Foreign Coaches:There is a dearth of competent coaches in India. Thus, a player has to rely on foreign coaches
for assistance and training. The fees and expenses to hire a foreign coach cannot be easily met
by an individual. Hence, most of the times the players have to make a compromise. Either
they are given incompetent coaches or no coaches at all.
6. Travel Costs:Due to lack of funds Indian players are send only to selected competitions. India remains
unrepresented in most of the competitions. The players are unable to afford the huge travel
and registration costs and hence it is on the discretion of the government to decide whether
India would be represented in a competition or not .
7. Sponsorship:The multinationals and private companies are uninterested in sponsoring a game which
people barely watch. Due to lack of private funding the players have to completely rely on
the government funds.
8. Balancing Job and Sports
Sanjay has a rigorous practice schedule from 6 am to 8 pm. Fortunately, the Military Police
encourages him to follow his dreams. Not all employers provide their employees with funds,
job salary and a healthy work atmosphere. It is almost impossible for players to strike a
balance between their jobs and sports.

9. Politics:Politics has dominated almost all spheres of Indian sports. Discrimination on basis of
Regionalism at the time of selection is prevalent in all sports including cricket. Other factors
like political recommendations and corruption have also affected the selection procedure
adversely.
10. No Pension:A player is usually active till the age of 35 years. Most of the players retire with no
substantial achievements, education and financial security. If they still wish to be connected
with the profession; the only option available is to coach students and youngsters for meager
amounts.
What needs to be done?
Nothing would change until we change our attitude. These games will attract sponsorship and
private funding only when the people start appreciating them. Transparency must be brought
in the selection procedure. Government may provide deserving players with more jobs and
remuneration.
The educational institutions must also encourage the students to excel in sports and not only
in academics.There are very few universities which provide for sports quota in higher
eduction. Similar reservations must be made in other universities too. A change needs to be
brought at every stage; if we expect India to perform well at the International level.
A player sacrifices a lot for his game. His spirit and dedication needs to be respected
and not ignored by the nation.