London: Olympic gold medallist Lord Sebastian Coe, who is organising committee chairman for the 2012 London Olympics, believes cricket is overshadowing other sports in India.

Coe said the popularity of cricket, especially among the younger generation, is preventing the growth of other sports, particularly athletics.

"Indian diaspora can create role models from the world of athletics to promote sports activities other than cricket," said Coe, 53, a gold medallist at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

"We at London 2012 want to help Asian communities to create globalised role models.

"Recently at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010, Indians realised that they have very talented athletes. It is not just about cricket — other games can create very strong legacies."

Cricketers Monty Panesar, Nasser Hussain and Mark Ramprakash are among the few Indians who have represented Britain both at county and international level.

Amir Khan, the British boxer of Pakistani descent, is the WBA World super lightweight champion who won the belt at the age of 22, making him Britain's third-youngest world champion after Naseem Hamed, who has Yemeni roots and Herbie Hide, of Nigerian origin.

Great atmosphere

Coe was reluctant to comment when asked about developments in India with regard to the arrest of Commonwealth Games organising committee chief Suresh Kalmadi for his alleged involvement in corruption and his removal from the post of president of the Indian Olympic Association.

"The matter is for the Indian Olympic Association to decide," he said.

The development could have a ripple effect in his efforts to keep sport away from politics. "London 2012 wants to leave a legacy in a number of areas to ensure that sport is high up on the social and political agendas in countries around the world," Coe said.

And, in this quest, Coe is trying to merge the process with Britain's ethnic south Asian community with the help of his chairmanship and his Punjabi background.

"The beauty of the Olympic and Paralympic Games is that no two Games are the same. Sydney was a fantastic Games with a great atmosphere and we would very much like to emulate this," he said.

Whereas Sydney 2000 raised the standard of the Olympics, London 2012 aim at providing the 205 Olympics and 170 Paralympics representatives a homely atmosphere.

At London 2012, Coe wants to help the Commonwealth nations around the world create their own globalised role models.

Diverse community

London provides the best opportunity with a very large and diverse south Asian community. Many boroughs of the British capital are dominated by Pakistani Muslims and the Gujarati community from India.

London 2012 is organising both the Olympics and the Paralympics as one integrated project.

The ticket sales for the Games closed on April 26.

A total of 20 sports have been arranged for disabled athletes, including wheelchair tennis, wheelchair rugby, power lifting, seven-a-side football and archery.

With over 200 member countries participating with their own flavour of culture, London is the ideal venue for this carnival of sport.

The athletes will be performing before a diverse crowd that has moved away from their country of origin and found a second home in London.