Indian cricket- Is performance based payment justified?

Cricket is the only sport that Indians are fanatic about. It is worshipped as a religion all over the country. The players of our national team are considered as heroes. This is the reason why every other person, willing to choose sports as his career, wants to come into the game of cricket. Due to such a high value of the game, it attracts a lot of politics, money, fame, etc. These things make the players associated with the game fall into the vicious web of earning lot of money through endorsements and advertisements. It directly affects their performance on the field and brings shame to the country. There had been innumerable examples of debacles and disasters which our national team has had just because of the amount of glamour involved in the profession. This glamour factor affects the players in a negative manner. It seriously hampers the concentration level of the players. They lose focus. To get out of this, a serious overhaul is very important. And the most sought after answer is Performance based Payment. Since the time the phrase gained currency, it has generated heated arguments among followers of the game. Now the crucial question arises- Will this system help overcome the odds to ferry the team to victory? The answer is yes. And to prove the point, following questions can be put forward.

Performance based payments would kick the players into putting their 100% into performing on the field. This will make them accountable and hopefully less lax. If its performance based they will surely strive hard with the bat as well as the ball. Then at least they will follow the adage - “Practice as if you are the worst, perform as if you are the best.” But it should be remembered that this policy will bear fruit only if it cuts both ways i.e. payments should have incentives for good performances and pay cuts for bad ones. No one should be allowed to rest easy thinking they have a contract which guarantees them money. For example, imagine the scenario when Sachin and Rahul failed in a particular match and were not paid while the junior members like Gautam Gambhir performed well and were given the bonus. So, it will definitely hurt these senior members’ ego and they will want to prove themselves like never before. Therefore, the system will help in infusing the Killer Instinct which is lacking in the team.
Apart from that, it should also be remembered that incentives are common in the world of sport and one often hears of huge bonuses announced for feats such as winning or making commendable progress in the World Cup football tournament. But, a performance-based system of payment would serve as a bonus as reward for a good act. It could also serve as a penalty for a bad performance. Apart from that, all our cricket heroes should be banned from doing any modeling, ads etc. like any government employees, once they are employed they can't pursue any business nor any work. When this is done, then I think Indians will eat, drink, breath CRICKET in a real sense.
Thus, in the end, it can be concluded that the performance based system will help our cricketers to adopt a professional attitude towards the game. This will make them more accountable and responsible towards the nation as a whole. Also, it will help them to cope up with pressure and perform well in such situations.

UP Elections

Uttar Pradesh elections. Gosh! Very crucial event in our country’s political arena. Whole of the country’s eyes will be fixed on the outcome of this politically volatile state. But, it is pretty hard to predict who’s going to win the race. Winning the political battlefield here is not a piece of cake as many factors come into play like muscle power, money power & of course, the electorate. The state has seen many ups & downs, numerous setbacks & bitter power plays by the political giants in order to win the booty i.e. Right to Govern. The major players in the political arena are Congress, the BJP, SP, BSP & other minor regional parties which come in handy in swinging the final result.

No government in UP has lasted a full term in the last two decades. Mulayam Singh, whose current innings began in 2003, has had the longest unstinted run. But, yet again, stirrings of change have begun to surface. It is not about any external threats, but the serious undercurrents that are sure to give him a serious blow. The threat comes to this SP govt. from what has been his stronghold in the state- the Dalits, the Backwards & the Muslims. Mayawati’s BSP & V P Singh’s Jan Morcha has been working overtime to make sure Mulayam does not retain power. Apart from that, the general image of the govt. among its subjects is also not very satisfactory. The people are generally apprehensive about the deteriorating law & order problem in the state, unbridled corruption & very little development. So, the Mulayam govt. is losing its hold in the state.

Apart from that, the Congress & the BJP has also started gearing up for the decisive battle. Congress President Sonia Gandhi had launched her election campaign as early as last year when she resigned from the post of the Chairman of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation under the Office of Profit row. She had done so keeping in mind the assembly elections of UP. After that, she also contested the Rae Bareilly seat, Congress’s traditional hold, to win over the hearts of the people. But, apart from Rae Bareilly & few other pockets, Congress is not a dominant force to be of any threat in the poll battle. Similarly, the BJP hopes to revive its fortunes in the state with its age old agenda of building Ram temple in Ayodhya which has very few takers. On top of that, they still believe that the party can make govt. on its own without resorting to any coalition. This, again, is a claim which has lost its relevance in today’s times, especially in a state which has so many communal biases & is divided on so many ideologies that a single party rule is next to impossible.

Keeping in mind these factors & considering the nature of the electorate, it is, therefore, a safe bet to forecast that the state will throw up a fractured verdict. No single party commands such a support so as to form a govt. So, the real battle will start after the results have come in. They will test the political bigwigs as who is better networked into other parties & who commands the best & the biggest financial resources to swing the final verdict his way and in this regard, Mulayam is having an edge over others with his leading strategist Amar Singh & banker friend Anil Ambani.