World Cup 2011- Who benefits?

28 years is very a long time. And after the long wait, the ‘Men in Blue’ have done it. They have won the World Cup 2011. Finally, Sachin Tendulkar has fulfilled his dream of having a World Cup win in his kitty. He has scored the highest number of runs in the tournament. The world is now eagerly awaiting his 100^th century in One Day Internationals.

India is at the top of the world and I am proud to be an Indian.
The final was played really well by both the teams and India emerged as the best with contributions from every member of the team. The victory was followed by celebrations all over India which continued till the next day. Everyone in India was mad with happiness and with the same madness, the government of different states also declared huge rewards to the players. That’s a good gesture to boost the spirit of the team. But where does this lead the nation? Are we still going to live with the dilemma of the rich being richer and the poor being poorer?

The rewards received by the players for winning the World Cup have been much more than they can handle. The most ideal way of rewarding the players would be the possession of the World Cup and a sum of whatever was decided by the competition. In addition, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has generously awarded a sum of one crore rupees (not a small amount) to every player of the team. It seems like a better offer for bringing home the World Cup. But a reward from different states in the form of cash and kind just exaggerates the level of happiness. It is understood that India has brought home the World Cup after 28 long years. But, giving the players a whole lot more than they can expect makes no sense at all. If instead of giving it all to the players, they had donated it to the orphanage or any other charitable institution, it would be considered a sign of good gesture.

Any tournament that takes place brings about a lot of scope for development to the host nation. And hence, the funds need to be directed only towards the development of the nation as a whole. There are so many places in India that requires the need for development. The slum areas, the railway system, the traffic chaos & confusion, the underground electricity system and many of the systems not mentioned require to be developed as per international standards. And if the government can gift the players crores of rupees, then they should also be capable enough to improve the standard of living in every part of India.

More recent news states that the World Cup that was presented to the players on the day of the finals is a phoney - One of the best ways to fool an Indian player. The real World Cup still lies with the customs authorities since the custom duty of Rs. 22 lacs is not paid for by BCCI. This is no doubt the biggest scam in the history of the ICC World Cup. BCCI can afford to reward every player with a crore of rupees and they just can’t pay Rs. 22 lacs as custom duty to bring home the ICC trophy. Just a thought - ‘If Sri Lanka had won instead of India, would we have given them the fake trophy to take back home?

India is considered as the fastest growing economy in the world. And we can only realize our dream of being a developed nation if we channelize the funds towards shaping a better India free of poverty & corruption.

Let us all pray for a better India, a better world where only love exists – love for the nation & love for one another.