Two years ago, just before the Delhi Commonwealth Games, there was a spate of articles, especially in the overseas media, about the fact that many stadia and event venues were not ready. Much of this criticism was from the British media, which went to town about everything from security to infrastructure. This influenced some athletes to pull out under the mistaken belief that the Games would be worse for their absence.

It was the Canadian delegation that, on arrival, commented to the athletes who had decided to skip the Games that the facilities were top class. This was ironic since it was the Canadian city of Hamilton, Ontario, that Delhi had pipped for the honour of holding the 2010 Games. It would have been understandable to some degree if they were critical of the arrangements and facilities.

Now, two years down the road, the British media have taken on their own Olympic Games, and the British Government is on the ropes as security firms who were given the contract are now saying that they are unable to fulfil their obligations in full. There are also massive queues at immigration and the special Olympic traffic lanes are creating chaos in the city. There are also questions whether all the infrastructure created is going to create any future employment opportunities, and so on and so forth.

What it indicates is that be it the Olympics, Commonwealth or Asian Games, there will always be areas where there is scope for improvement; to expect everything to go smoothly is living in a fools’ world. However genuine the efforts of the organisers are, the bigger the event, the more chances there are for some glitch or other to happen. For, quite simply, in the modern world, there can be no such thing as the perfect Games.

What will be interesting to see is how the weather is going to affect the Games. At the moment, with a few days left until the Olympics begin, the weather in England has been indifferent to say the least. Rain is seldom far away in England and that will certainly hamper the athletes. Athletes invariably perform better when the sun is out and the track is dry. So, if there is rain, then perhaps we won’t see too many existing records being shattered.

The rain factor

Nobody in England has made a mention of the rain factor, while they are all moaning about the heat factor anticipated in the football World Cup in Qatar a few years down the road, which is pretty typical. It is the old syndrome from way back when there were no third-country umpires. If an error was made by the subcontinent umpires, then it was cheating, but a similar mistake made by an English umpire was just a human error. So, wet weather in England is ok, but not the heat in Qatar.

Be that as it may, hopefully from a purely sporting point of view, let us pray that it all goes without a hiccup; we get to see some terrific achievements; and the Indian contingent comes back with more gold this time than from the last Games.

Meanwhile, with fewer than two months to go until the ICC World T20 starts, the teams have to send a list of their 30 probables, and then a month before the event send the final squad. It was so good to see the name of the cancer survivor, Yuvraj Singh, on the list India’s 30 probables. Not only is this an acknowledgement of his value to the team, but it is also a great incentive to him to train harder and get back to full fitness. It is not going to be easy, but after what he has undergone a few months ago, the fact that he is still in contention for the team is a wonderful motivating factor for him.

You can see a change in him, and not just in terms of the physical side of things. This is now a young man who is aware of the outside world and is making huge efforts to help others who have been through the same trauma as he has. At the international level, most players become insular and are solely focused on getting better at their sport and that does not leave enough time to think or even be aware of what is happening around.

Yuvraj has had the unique experience of going through highs and the lows in the same year. Remember he was the player of the series in the World Cup which India won last year and the same year he was struck by this illness. That he has come through it with his head unbowed shows his fighting spirit.

It is this same fighting spirit that will make the prince into the undisputed king in the second half of his career and life.