Peeping Into the Future of Indian Sports

I came across this interesting poll on a popular sports website, which wanted its audience to predict the future of cricket in 2013. This triggered me to think of how sports in India would be a year from now. Everything in the sporting world is changing and is changing very fast. How does a sports geek ( thats a term I just invented..or I hope I did!!!) like me adjust to these changes. One fine day from being a champion side, my country's cricket team decides, enough is enough, winning is not our thing anymore. The Indian Davis Cup decides to call a strike before an important encounter. Like I said, sports is changing and it is changing very fast. 

If i try and jog my brains into the future to predict what I think Indian sports would like exactly a year from now, I get some nice thoughts but some really scary ones too. There are a lot of 'What ifs?' in my head right now but leaving them aside, here are the top 5 things a sports lover can expect from 2013:

• Disruptive interference from irrelevant authorities in sports : This year around we did see a lot of disasters by India's sporting bodies. Starting with the AITA who made a complete mess of who would represent India at London 2012 to the IOA who have gotten themselves and several Indian Olympic hopefuls in a disastrous situation. I see this tren continuing to not just next year but form many years unless someone with some bit of sports-sense takes control of sports in India.
• Innovation in Sports: The concept of a test match held in the darkest hours has been knocking on the doors of the ICC for quite some time. The major purpose of night tests is to drive interest back to the long form of the game. Similar innovations to make other sports attractive can be expected in the next year. Dont be surprised if  you hear talks of a Golf Premier League to make the old man's sport more interesting for the people.
• Data analytics to decide the perfect 'Good Bye' moment: Data and analytical tools have become an integral part of professional and personal life. While, sales targets and product success were formally measured in numbers, today, everything is slowly being given a number even if it is engagement level when two people are talking. There is a huge chance of data analytics making its way to sports in a far bigger way. At a time, when the Indian country is expecting players to step down or retire, a holistic measure to define the tipping point is not too far away.
• Social Media in sports: London 2012 really got people into the games with their amazing social media strategy  Taking a leaf out of that book, was ICC's plan to promote the World Cup on Twitter. The growing popularity of social media in sports will only get bigger. I am putting my money on backing social media to bring back the excitement to those who have given up on their favorite sports.
• Women Empowerment: The one thing I really hope for in the coming year is that the concerned sports bodies, Give Women the Support to WIN!!! It is awful to see the treatment given to Indian women in sports. The year 2013 should bring some reasons to smile for Indian sports-women. 

An existing trend that I see continuing to the next year is that of Sports Movies. After the success of some really inspiring movies including Chak De India and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag , I really hope to see more of them.

Just like any other fan of Indian sports, I really hope we have a fantastic sporting year ahead.