My Greatest Moments as an Indian Sports Fan

For the hardcore cricket fan, the pain of the Caribbean disaster refuses to subside. Every time he sees either Ireland or Bangladesh on TV, which is quite often, it comes throbbing back. But it’s not all sad on the Indian sports front. Vishy Anand is finally world no 1. Leander Paes has moved up to no 2 in the world doubles ranking. Indian sport is alive and kicking. That is, if you know, that, there exist other sports beyond cricket.

I have closely followed a large number of sports, and over my lifetime of being an Indian sports fan, there has been much to cheer and shout about. My first memory, of watching a sport, is of the 1987 cricket world cup. So, in a celebration of 20 years of being a sports fan, I have decided to make a list of my greatest moments as an Indian Sports fan, and as a mark of respect to other sports, and a mute protest against cricket, the list will not include any cricketing moment. Anyways, there are enough TV programs like “Cricket Legends”, “Sachin The Great”, “India Glorious “, to remind us of our Cricketing conquests.

So here goes

• Pullela Gopichand’s triumph at the All-England Championships in 2001 - This is the gold standard for individual achievement. His feat is akin to an Indian beating Federer and Nadal and winning the singles crown at Wimbledon.
• Leander’s bronze at Atlanta, Malleswari’s bronze at Sydney and Rajyavardhan Rathore’s silver at Athens – the rare sight of an Indian on an Olympic podium, draped in the tricolor, was a real goose bump moment. I actually stood up as the Indian flag went up.
• Leander Paes and Ramesh Krishnan conquer the French at Frejus, in the 1994 Davis Cup quarter finals - Every time, I thought, we were finally done for, there was another stirring comeback. India came back from 2-1 down on the final day, in front of a hostile French crowd. Davis Cup tennis at its finest.
• Geet Sethi’s five world professional billiards crowns (1992, 1993, 1998, 2001 and 2006) – This champion from the land of Mahatma Gandhi, gave the Brits another non-violent beating in a truly British game.
• Vishwanathan Anand winning the world chess title in 2000 - Going by our continued success in chess, there's a strong case to make it our new national sport.
• Ramesh Krishnan and Vijay Amritraj inspire India to a mammoth upset over the Aussies in Sydney, in the 1987 Davis Cup semi-final - Another David vs. Goliath moment from the Davis Cup.
• Narain Karthikeyan becoming the first Indian in Formula One in 2005 - step aside Schumacher and Alonso. We finally had an Indian to cheer for
• All the victories of Paes and Bhupathi - Their break-up is by far the saddest moment in Indian Sport.
• Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna at the Hopman cup 2007 - India making it to the world stage was a miracle in itself. They continued their fairytale run beating the favorites’, Czech Republic and Croatia, and almost made it to the final.
• Jeev Milkha Singh’s glorious run in 2007, winning the biggest events on European, Japanese and Asian tours - Great son of a great father.
• Jaspal Rana's three gold medals at the 2006 Qatar Asiad - Trust me, I was under the impression that he had long retired. Humiliated by the authorities, shunned by the media and ravaged by fever; his three gold medals, even as the much fancied shooters fell by the wayside, is a picture perfect story of sporting redemption.
  

Let me just add, that this list is not in any particular order. This is just a collection of my most treasured memories, from the last two decades. We are not exactly setting the Ganges on fire in other sports, but we’re definitely better off than cricket.

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