News that Dhoni is being awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna was both amusing and disgusting. Amusing because it showed yet again the true face of BCCI and disgusting because Dhoni is undeserving of the award...atleast at this point in time. A few years from now , maybe...but right now..completely undeserving.
The only cricketer to be awarded this is Sachin Tendulkar.. and here is a quick glance at his statistics as at the end of the second Test against SL last week
149 tests 11857 runs @ 54.64 avg, 39 centuries and 42 wickets as a dependable support bowler
417 ODIs 16361 runs @ 44.33 avg, 42 centuries and 152 wickets
And this is Dhoni
29 tests 1418 runs @ 33.76 avg, 1 century and 82 victims behind the stumps
115 ODIs 3600 runs @ 48 avg, 4 centuries and 153 behind the stumps
115 ODIs 3600 runs @ 48 avg, 4 centuries and 153 behind the stumps
Dhoni is not even a patch on Sachin. And Sachin was awarded after more than a decade in the field. Can anyone dispute the little master's brilliance or achievements?
Let's for a moment forget Sachin as a comparison. Is Dhoni a better cricketer and achiever than a Rahul Dravid or a Anil Kumble. A top of the head recall of numbers show that Dravid has over 10000 runs in both forms of the game, over 20 Test centuries, over 175 catches and counting and has lead India to overseas series victories in West Indies and England.. Only Wadekar has done this in the history of Indian cricket. Not even Sourav ( unarguably the best captain India has had) comes close .
And the grand old man of the current team, the man with the ne'er say die attitude that spills over to everyone else in the team, the only one to lead India to victory in Perth ( no team other than the West Indies have achieved this feat) the only one in the last four decades, maybe five to have taken all ten wickets in an innings, the leading bowler by a mile...Anil Kumble.
Where does Dhoni figure here ? With less than 4 years in international cricket and a victory in a 'carnival cricket' that opened the floodgates for BCCI's alter ego - the IPL - to rake in the moolah ensured that he gets nominated for the highest award in sports in the country.
Is this the current Government's return of thanks for the victory in the "no-confidence" vote.
Shibu Soren from Jharkhand voting for the UPA...and Dhoni the famous son of Jharkhand rewarded.
This is a small extract of what the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna is all about
"The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (RGKR) is India’s highest honour given for achievement in sports. The words "Khel Ratna" literally translate to "Sports Gem" in Hindi. The award is named after the late Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India. It carries a medal, a scroll of honour and a substantial cash component. The award was instituted in the year 1991-92 to supply the lack of a supreme national accolade in the field of sports. Predating the RGKR are the Arjuna awards that have always been given to outstanding sportspersons in each of many sporting disciplines every year. The Khel Ratna was devised to be an overarching honour, conferred for outstanding sporting performance, whether by an individual or a team, across all sporting disciplines in a given year.
Whereas the trend has generally been for one outstanding sportsperson to be honoured every year, that is not mandatory.The award need not be bestowed if no candidate is found to have met historic standards of excellence. "
Is the Twenty 20 World cup the highest achievement we as a country have witnessed?
Is Dhoni the best cricketer India has produced after Sachin?
Is Dhoni a sporting gem?
Has Dhoni demonstarted historic standards of excellence?
Was the Twenty 20 a team effort or the individual brilliance of Dhoni?
Is this BCCI's way of incentivising its revenue generation model.
One thing is clear...Awards have lost their meaning, importance and sanctity.
