No point in grudging cricket's popularity, says Bhutia

Dubai: Baichung Bhutia, captain of the Indian football team and an icon of the game in his country, does not find much reason to fuss at Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team being showered with all the cash for winning the Twenty20 World Cup.

"If the Indian cricket board wants to honour them or the corporate houses want to derive mileage by announcing the incentives, how can you stop them?" Bhutia said.

Now in the city for a week-long visit with the Indian team's transit camp here, on their way to Beirut where India will be playing Lebanon in a World Cup qualifier, Bhutia seemed to have a balanced view on the recent allegations that other sports like hockey and soccer have been getting stepmotherly treatment despite their recent achievements.

"There is no point in grudging the popularity of cricket, as it takes the cream of media coverage back in India. No wonder, there will be more takers for the game, though I do feel a little sorry for hockey," he told Gulf News.

'More initiative'

Driving the point home, Bhutia said: "The government should have shown more initiative to reward them for winning the Asia Cup, where they beat a team like South Korea in the final."

At least four members of the national hockey team had, only a few days back, decided to go on hunger strike till the state government of Karnataka hurriedly came up with an announcement of cash rewards.

The Indian soccer team, ranked at lowly 145th in the latest Fifa rankings, had created quite a stir last month by winning their first-ever Nehru Cup - beating Syria in a well-fought final in New Delhi.

Given the drought of silverware in recent times for the sport, it was quite an achievement and the team had their share of monetary incentives: the prize money of $80,000 (Dh294,240) was split equally among the team members, while the All India Football Federation (AIFF) promised each member a sum of Rs2.5 lakh (Dh23,234).

Asked if he considered the spoils to be enough, Bhutia chose to tread a broader picture again rather than talking up numbers. "The bottomline is we will have to show more success at the international level, only then will the things improve.

"However, compared to hockey, I must say we are lucky for the best available football talent in the country can at least make a decent living by signing up with the clubs," he said.