Commercially super hit hockey based cinema Chak De! India’s hero Shah Ruk Khan obtains the franchise for one of the eight Indian Premier League Cricket teams at a whopping cost of USD 75.09 million. India’s cricket board auctioned the franchise yesterday, where cinema stars, business magnets, media moguls vied for the rights. In all, the cricket board mopped up, believe it, $111.9 million dollar, the rates going close to top football clubs in the world. It has already sold television rights for $1.1 billion. These things prove the potential of sport market in India, which as of now only cricket has vision and mission to understand and cash in on. Be it as it may.

Shah Ruk Khan acted as the victimized hockey hero, who turns up for coaching women hockey and brings glory in the Chak De film. Even before the film conceptualized, Shah Ruk Khan, the super star, used to talk about hockey and is certainly a knowledgeable guy on the sport. There were also pictures showing him as the hockey team captain of his college, Hansraj, in Delhi. So far so good.

However, after the super success of his hockey film Chak De, it was generally expected the star will do his bit for hockey. But we could not see him at hockey venues, whether it is Asia Cup or recently concluded Premier Hockey League. May be that he was not invited or the organizers did not thing big, we do not know, but we are sad the success of a hockey film was not effectively utilized by the people who run our hockey affairs. But the fact of the matter is mass likes hockey and chak De’s success proved even if we need any proof for it.

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Shah Ruk Khan claims he is essentially a sports lover and came into cricket – he will henceforth be the owner of Kolkatta based IPL Cricket team – to bring more youngster in to the sports fields.

The way the cricket board innovates and brings money periodically into in its coffers, generosity with which it awards its players, the manner with which it conducts in internal dialogue processes are certain things that are worthy of emulation by any sporting body. Cricket is played seriously not more than 10 countries, yet its Boards, like the Indian one, generate great money, and come within top five sports bodies of the world.

The cricket board of India is the richest, and its turn over is now very much closing in on FIFA, and one of its former presidents was declared among the top ten sports administrators of the world by a leading magazine a couple of years ago.

Very significantly, the cricket board keeps players and their product in front unlike our hockey fellows who keeps themselves and their ego in the public. Is there any surprise therefore cricket clicks while the second most popular sport in India, hockey, barely survives.

Hockey has not produced any forum or product for people like Shah Ruk Khan to enter and excite. Let us look ourselves how we conduct our affairs. herein lies all the woes of hockey. Let the dark age polices leave hockey, its market glory will blossom.