IT JUST AIN'T CRICKET

Why cricketers and other sportspersons, unlike film stars, do not win much in the political arena

- ARCHIS MOHAN , VISHAL MENON

Unlike the electoral success that several film and television actors have achieved in Indian politics, some of whom served as chief ministers, such as M G Ramachandran and NT Rama Rao, or were ministers at the Centre, from Sunil Dutt to Smriti Irani, the political careers of most sportspersons have been briefer and their contribution to public discourse comparatively unremarkable.

But a stream of cricketers, footballers, and athletes keeps flowing into the hubbub of politics, to try to replicate the battle skills they learnt in the sporting arena in the theatre of electoral warfare.

On Friday, wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, joined the Congress party, becoming the latest to try transitioning from playing sports to learning the craft of political games.

Punia, a 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist, and Phogat, India's most decorated woman wrestler, were key members of the band of sportspersons that protested over the sexual harassment allegations against former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in 2023.

Advocate Jayshankar, a political analyst based in Kochi, says: "Sportspersons join politics at the fagend of their careers, when they are in their 30s and 40s. They generally tend to be naïve and lack the world view, which is why they don't have such long and fulfilling political careers. Film stars, on the other hand, enter when they are washed-up and much older, and wiser. Their experience and people skills play a key role."

After joining the Congress, Phogat, who has endured much in the past two years, including her disqualification from the gold medal round of Paris Olympics, was confident and to the point when addressing the media. "I am starting a new innings. I don't want sportspersons to face what we had to go through," she said.