Sportz Power A Listers

CIRCA 2009 was a tumultuous year for Indian sport. Many power equations changed, many new faces assumed greater importance, some lost their sheen, while others grew ‘powerful’. Still others carved larger swathes and enjoyed influence and clout. Power could have flowed from Virender ‘Viru’s’ bat or exerted quiet influence in the BCCI board room like Sharad Pawar or wielded enormous clout in the vast sporting apparatus being rolled for the Commonwealth Games, like a Suresh Kalmadi or Randhir Singh or like Subroto Roy Sahara who has decided to pump prime Indian Olympians in their quest for medals.
The year was different. It was, as they say in the wine industry, a mature year. So, many new faces, some old ones and still others who dominated their trade in a professional and accomplished manner like Sachin Tendulkar, the grand daddy of Indian cricket. Most importantly, all these A listers played a dominant role in their own way. Of course, some more than the others…

1.SURESH KALMADI
Is Kalmadi the most powerful man in Indian sport at the moment? Well, given that he is in charge of the multi-billion dollar delivery mechanism called the Commonwealth Games organising committee, it would appear so. And even more importantly despite all the attempts to unseat him and all the controversies over the slow pace of work, he remains firmly ensconced as the boss of the OC.
Furthermore, he is still president of IOA and lifetime president of the Athletics Federation of India. He is now attempting to ensure that his writ runs large on hockey administration as well. That is if election observer for the Hockey India polls – S K Mendiratta – allows him any leeway. He has planned his ascension to the apex of the newly constructed Hockey India.
His financial and administrative authority over the OC may well have been curbed by the PMO by bringing in bureaucrats, his running battles with CGF president Mike Fennell and CEO Mike Hooper may well be part of Commonwealth folklore, but yet he survives to deliver India's biggest ever sporting spectacle - the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Repeated time and cost escalations have seen the infrastructure programme in disarray, but Kalmadi continues to sing the new anthem - All Izz Well - with great aplomb. Every new controversy dies down abruptly as Kalmadi using his famed networking skills across party lines, manages to quell every attempt to unseat him.
Now the only proof of the pudding will be in tasting what he has been cooking for the last six years - 3 October next year when the Games begin. Hope it doesn't end up like the DDCA pitch fiasco where the Kotla pitch was found unsuitable and the game had to be abandoned.

2.SHARAD PAWAR
No longer president of the BCCI, Pawar's shadow is too large for anyone in the cricket board politics to ignore. In fact, it has been proven that if you ignore Pawar in board realpolitik, you do so at your own peril. As N Srinivasan and Shashank Manohar discovered to their discomfiture recently. Truly sugar daddy to Lalit Modi, Pawar has intervened on his behalf repeatedly this year. When IMG was being kayoed by board secretary Srinivasan who has designs to become BCCI president in 2010, it was Pawar who stepped up to the plate and cooled down frayed tempers. When talk began doing the rounds that a beleaguered Modi, who has lost the Rajasthan Cricket Association presidentship twice this year, was to be turfed out by the Shashank Manohar-Srinivasan combine, it was Pawar who stepped into the breach, dispelling all notions that sections of the board had. Modi survived yet again and this time clarity was offered that Modi's term as chairman and commissioner remains intact till 2012.
Pawar, who will take over as the ICC supremo, is also heading the 2011 World Cup organising committee. Using his enormous clout in the cricket world, Pawar even managed to dismantle the rebel Indian Cricket League apparatus by offering amnesty to all players. That put paid to cash strapped Subhash Chandra's plans of carrying on with his league. However, Pawar was careful to be covert in his machinations in 2009, making himself available to mediate as and when required. With Pawar set to become ICC president after David Morgan in mid 2010, expect Pawar and India's role in cricket management to gain further currency. Already there is talk swirling around that the ICC headquarters will be shifted to Mumbai, from Dubai.

3.SUBROTO ROY SAHARA
The grand pappy of sports sponsorship - Subroto Roy - now sponsors practically every discipline. While the Indian cricket Team jersey stayed with him till 30 June after the BCCI failed to secure a fresh sponsor, Saharashree, as he is popularly known, remains firmly behind hockey.
But he has enlarged his scope and size of operations by sponsoring 13 boxers and 17 wrestlers for the next four years, besides upgrading Bhiwani Boxing Club and Guru Hanuman Akhara right upto the 2012 London Olympics.
He also took a big leap of faith by launching a glittering Sahara India Sports Awards. There was even talk of grabbing the Manchester United shirt sponsoring deal, but this was not to be.
In October, Sahara also became the sponsor for the UP cricket team. So, it carried on with the National Rifle Association of India selecting 15 shooters who will be provided a graded system of sponsorship for the 2012 Olympics. This is part of Sahara's commitment to breed Olympic champions. Similarly, he has a sponsorship tie up with archers for the Olympics. All told he is supporting 56 such sportpersons. While Abhinav Bindra may be missing from the shooters list due to 'high expectations', what Sahara is trying to do is most commendable. Though the amounts of these deals are not known, Subroto Roy has taken the lead in promoting non-cricket sporting disciplines.

4.MANOHAR SINGH GILL
India’s Sports Minister who was upgraded to full Cabinet rank in UPA 2 remains a player in India’s fractured sporting frat. He had his usual run ins with BCCI, first on the controversial Predikter game which he ensured was pulled out of the system during IPL 2.0 in South Africa. Then he refused to back down on the issue of cricketers being WADA whereabouts clause compliant. Though the BCCI refuses to play ball and manages to garrotte ICC in its typical browbeating style, Gill manages to queer the pitch for several of our sports associations.
Suresh Kalmadi has constantly been shown his place by the minister, more so when he tried controversially to rush through the Hockey India elections in Srinagar on 18 November. Even with the Formula One clearance, Gill played hardball knowing fully well that Kalmadi's kin were part of the operation. He even told the Aussies where they could get off the bus when they refused to play Davis Cup in Chennai. He has been tough, but sometimes one feels he hasn’t been tough enough with the CWG OC which till recently was having its own way.
In fact when things got really out of hand, it was Gill who effected a rapprochement between warring Kalmadi and Fennel in London during the Queen’s Baton Relay. But as with Kalmadi, his real litmus test will be the Games and how well they go in 2010.

5. LALIT MODI
Last year's most powerful man thus has been relegated to the number five position. But it doesn't mean that his luminescence has diminished even though one might argue that his go getting style and power may have been curbed. Modi remains an ambitious man not fazed by any obstacles in his path. Just when it appeared that the second season of the IPL was going to become a non-starter because it could not be held in India due to the general elections, Modi played a masterstroke by taking the show - lock, stock and barrel - to South Africa. The costs involved were high but the show was a success once again and went off without a hitch.
The inaugural Champions League T20 was also conducted with a lot of fanfare. Though less of a success than the IPL, another big event was conjured out of thin air and added to the international calendar. Modi continues to wring in the changes and the innovations albeit having detractors within the Board. Two new teams will be added to the existing eight from the fourth season of the IPL as it continues to become bigger and stronger with a lot of international players even stating their desire to become freelancers and playing in such leagues alone. Thus cricket has been taken to the next level.

6. VIJAY MALLYA:
Has been desperately trying to be a power player in Indian sport. While Royal Challengers managed to turn around its fortunes by reaching the final of IPL 2.0, his Force India outfit in the F1 whirligig has not really gone according to plan. Though one must confess it is doing much better than the washout in the inaugural season. Just when one thought he had it fixed, he was dealt a bodyblow with his main driver defecting. Force India with chassis number VJM02 saw Giancarlo Fischella go over to Ferrari after delivering a kiloton performance. Further the late switch from Ferrari to Mercedes power caused the team significant headaches when developing the VJM02, meaning that the design of the tub had to be altered. The rear end is very similar mechanically to the McLaren MP4/24 as the two cars share engine, hydraulics and gearbox. Despite all this a cash strapped VJM is manfully backing his F1 dream.
The VJM02 is regularly the fastest car through the speed traps on a race weekend but struggled early in the season to convert that into laptime. By the time the cars reached the high speed tracks of Spa and Monza it was one of the best suited on the grid. The VJM02's incredible top speed saw it set pole position at Spa and challenge for a race win - only the Ferrari KERS prevented it from passing. Many rival drivers commented on just how fast the Force India was in a straight line. Its aerodynamic programme went outside the box and created a low drag car for the fastest tracks on the calendar. It worked and all of the teams points came from these two races. With Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi, he now hopes to get better in 2010 with a new chassis VJM03 and be a global power player, rather than merely one with a pan Indian presence.

7. MS DHONI
Dhoni’s Midas touch still seems to be intact and there can be no denying the fact that he still continues to be the face of Indian cricket - be it on the field or in TV commercials. Under his captaincy India have attained the number one rank in Test cricket - the first time in 77 years. He has captained India in ten Tests so far and under his captaincy India have never lost a test match.
While Dhoni has inherited a legacy started by Sourav Ganguly and taken forward by Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble, the accolade has ultimately come under his leadership. After being catapulted into the T20 cauldron, the Ranchi boy has turned into a poster child for young India. His deeds on the field earning him high praise from the pundits.
His winning streak in all forms keeping him ahead of the pack for performance and consistency are the only factors that pay with the public at large. He was even ranked number one in the Forbes Rich (sporting) list with an annual income of $ 10 million.

8.SACHIN TENDULKAR
India's most revered cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar broke onto the world stage at 16 and since then has become the highest scorer ever in both forms of the game. Picked as the second-best batsman in history by Wisden, the renowned cricketing almanac, Tendulkar often walks out to the batting pitch to the roaring expectations of hundreds of millions of Indian cricket fans.
But off the field, he has become the largest sports brand in India, signing promotion deals that are reported to be close to $ 45 million over his lifetime. Absorbing criticism and displaying hitherto unknown reserves of self belief, Tendulkar hit back once again with a masterly ODI innings of 175 against Australia this year to show that the fire still burns inside him and refuses to abate.

9.VIRENDER SEHWAG
The run machine from Najafgarh continues to confound and bewilder the cricketing world with runs flowing thick and fast from his willow. The Delhi Dasher was on the cusp of putting the likes of Sir Don Bradman and Brian Lara to shade by scoring a third triple ton in Test cricket but fell tantalizingly close to the feat. He is the only Indian batsman to score a Test triple hundred (in fact, he has got two triple centuries). Even in one-dayers, the world record of highest individual score of Saeed Anwar was in danger with Sehwag going great guns against Sri Lanka but he again fell short of the target. At the rate he is going at the moment, no individual record seems to be safe.
Former England all rounder Derek Pringle has called him the cricketer of the decade just gone by. His sheer domineering presence at the top of the Indian batting machine gives him an aura that puts the opposition on the defensive immediately. Another cricket writer and former Somerset player Peter Roebuck likens him to being impudent but rarely imprudent and among the most devastating openers the game has ever seen. Pringle adds, "Sehwag is a bogeyman who brings nightmares."

10. RANDHIR SINGH
Former shooter and now able administrator, Randhir Singh is one of the cornerstones of the Commonwealth Games organising committee. While reportedly at odds with chairman Suresh Kalmadi over the way the OC functions, Randhir Singh brings tremendous experience to bear. After repeated criticism of the OC's functioning by CGF, it is Randhir Singh who has been tasked with the major committees and other functional areas of the Games organisation.
Not known to make too much song and dance, Randhir allows his competence to do all the talking on his behalf. The first Indian shooter to ever win a gold in the Asian Games, Singh from the royal house of Patiala, knows the vagaries of sporting life well and truly. As secretary general of the IOA, Singh brings great experience to the table.
As he told SportzPower recently, "I took part in the 1982 Asian Games as an athlete. I know how an event of this magnitude is run and I also know where we stand now. Sub-committees are being headed by people who are competent to take decisions and deliver. We have to stage the Games in a manner befitting the country’s stature and image and for that we have to raise the bar organizationally. When we hosted the Asian Games (in 1982), we went all out to make it an event to remember and we should make the CWG as spectacular. Infrastructure would definitely be ready before the Games. Lot of people and heads of these committees have the experience of being associated with the (1982) Asian Games. They have the knowledge and know-how. And wherever we need foreign experts we have them."

11. N SRINIVASAN
The very ambitious cricket board secretary, also owner of the Chennai Super Kings outift in the IPL. First treasurer of the board, now its secretary, Srinivasan as industrialist and promoter of India Cements is readying his assault on the BCCI presidentship in September 2010.
Srinivasan has been running interference in Lalit Modi's large swathe in the board politics. Modi now weakened because he doesn't bring a vote to the table has been grappling with the rising influence of Srinivasan in the board.
Be it IMG or the issue of franchise owners ganging up behind Modi or team owners trying to form an association, Srinivasan has been at loggerheads with Modi. But never publicly as he conducts his business in a very covert manner.
The man to watch in the BCCI without a doubt, unhappy with Modi's largesse to his circle of friends.

12. PRAFUL PATEL
The man has become king to use a Kiplingesque analogy. Patel finally became All India Football Federation boss. His hands were strengthened when he managed to secure a large sum of Rs 100 million as a grant using his political benefactor Sharad Pawar's help in the BCCI.
Patel has many plans for Indian football, including developing a league styled on the IPL for Indian teams. He wants to bring sponsors and advertisers to the game and turn it into a BCCI type of body.
As civil aviation minister in UPA 2 and a big businessman, he wants to leverage his connections in the political and business world to lift Indian soccer from the doldrums. An IPL league for football is a great concept, but suffers from inherent execution risk. The idea may well be right, but rolling it out is difficult.
However soccer in India remains extremely popular in certain pockets and Patel wants to develop this gene pool.

13. PAWAN MUNJAL / GAUTAM THAPAR
Put your money where your mouth is the simple credo that these two industrialists work with. Both are equally passionate about golf. Munjal as CEO and MD has been a big supporter of Indian and ICC cricket for ever so long, but in 2009, he took another big decision – that of sponsoring the hockey World Cup to be played in the capital in February.
A long time backer of golf, the Indian Open has a purse of $1.25 million. Hero Honda is also betting big on the Commonwealth Games, sponsoring the Queen’s Baton relay when it arrives in India and its journey inside. Hero Honda has for long been a votary of cricket both on the field and on air as it reckons that it gives the best return on investment per rating point.
Thapar has unobtrusively become a vital cog in Indian sport. As one of the architects of the Professional Golf Tour of India, his Avantha Group is enlarging the gene pool of Indian golfing talent. The latest names being C Muniyappa and Anirban Lahiri. In 2010, Avantha Group will pump prime Thapar’s aspirations to a new high by sponsoring the $ 2.1 million Avantha Masters at the DLF Golf Club in February. This tournament will be held under the aegis of the Eurasian tour. A three-year agreement with the Avantha Group, one of India’s most prominent business conglomerates, signals India’s strong intent to become a leading golfing destination through what will be the first event in a new joint venture between the Asian Tour and The European Tour – to be known as EurAsia Golf Ltd - with the PGTI as the other partner in the tri-sanctioned tournament.
Thapar has tirelessly created a thriving domestic circuit, deepening and widening the game with various pit stops, bringing in corporate sponsors like SAIL, DLF, Citibank et al and investing through Group companies BILT and Crompton Greaves.

14. HARISH THAWANI
Brodacaster Nimbus' boss emerged as one of the most powerful men in Indian cricket. Not only did he get to renew his four-year contract with the BCCI for all international and domestic cricket at home, he was paid in spades for the slew of bilateral series - Australia, Sri Lanka and now South Africa; not just in terms of ratings, but in terms of revenues. Close contests and run feats have obviously helped.
Four years ago, Thawani took a punt and it has worked. Now he, with the right of first refusal resting with him, continues to retain the contractual rights for another four years. While he has to fork out a bank guarantee of Rs 20 billion by 15 January, Thawani is combative.
Meanwhile, his power and clout is growing. This year he got Deodhar Trophy scrapped and replaced by something called Corporate Trophy, an inter office tourney with Sahara as the title sponsor.
In his new contract, he will be paying Rs 312.5 million per match.

15. SAINA NEHWAL
Currently ranked number 6 in the world by Badminton World Federation, Saina is the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics and the first Indian to win the world junior badminton championship.
Saina scripted history on 21 June 2009, becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament after clinching the Indonesian Open with a stunning victory over higher-ranked Chinese Lin Wang in Jakarta .
Her highest career ranking is 6. She is first Indian woman to win the Indonesian Open Super Series. Saina Nehwal was rewarded with Arjuna award in August 2009 and her coach Shri Gopichand was also rewarded with Dronacharya award at the same time.

16.GAGANJEET BHULLAR and JEEV MILKHA SINGH
2009 has been Bhullar's most successful year on tour but he has played in fewer tournaments due to his concentration on the Asian Tour. Bhullar has won three of the four tournaments he has played in. Bhullar's 2009 season started out slow but eventually picked up.
Between March and July, Bhullar made four of six cuts, finishing in the top-10 four times. He recorded a runner up finish at the SAIL Open and recorded his first victory on the Asian Tour in July at the Indonesian President’s Invitation. The victory catapulted him into 10th on the Order of Merit and he jumped from 417 to 255 in the official world golf ranking. Right now Bhullar is ranked 168 in the world. The victory also makes Bhullar the youngest Indian to win on the Asian Tour and gives him exempt status on the Asian Tour until 2011.
The week before his win in Indonesia, Bhullar played in his first major at the 2009 Open Championship. He qualified for the Open by winning the Asian International Final Qualifying in April. Bhullar is the youngest Indian to play in a major.
Jeev Milkha Singh meanwhile, continues to be the top-ranked Indian golfer in the world with a world ranking of 59.

17. GARY KIRSTEN
When the team attains the number one Test slot in the world the coach necessarily deserves some credit. Some pundits feel that it was Greg Chappel who put the team on the path to glory, but the Australian was criticised for being arrogant.
Kirsten, on the contrary, has the backing of the players and is in many ways an unobtrusive coach and helps bring out the best in the players. Kirsten dispensed with the services of Robin Singh and Venkatesh Prasad this year and the team now has a new fielding consultant in Australia’s Mike Young.
The team still needs to be consistent but under Kirsten they are progressing in the right direction. Kirsten and mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton’s manual on sex and its effects on sportsmen created quite a furore when it was leaked to the media and for creating controversy that easily was the biggest story in Indian sport this year

18. SOMDEV DEVVARMAN
The 24-year-old, who was talked of as the next big thing ever since his debut in the Davis Cup match against Japan last year, created history in January by becoming the first Indian to reach the final of the ATP Chennai Open. The University of Virginia graduate beat the likes of former World No.1 Carlos Moya and Croat Ivo Karlovic en route to the final.
Somdev spearheaded the Indian challenge in their Davis Cup second round win against Chinese Taipei and later along with Rohan Bopanna took India into the World Group finals after 11 years, beating South Africa at Johannsesburg in the play-off.
Somdev also became the first Indian men’s player to qualify for the singles main draw of a Grand Slam event in seven years in the US Open.

19. GAUTAM GAMBHIR
The year has been outstanding for Indian opener Gautam Gambhir. He won the International Cricket Council’s Test Player of the Year award in October. In July, he held the number one Test ranking, though for only 10 days. He scored two centuries in New Zealand that included a match saving 137 at Napier where he batted close to 11 hours.
Gambhir carried his form in the home Test series against Sri Lanka, hitting back-to-back tons at Ahmedabad and Kanpur. Four centuries in successive Tests gave him a place in the elite circle as the third Indian batsmen after Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid to achieved the feat.
Undoubtedly the man around whom Indian batting will revolve in this decade once the big guns retire.

20. C MUNIYAPPA
For a man who caddied for one rupee during his childhood, winning the Hero Honda Indian Open in October was a life-transforming moment.
The win fetched Muniyappa the Rookie of the Year title after the 32-year-old finished his season in 10th place on the Order of Merit with $ 223,269 through one win and three other top-25 finishes. The caddie-turned-pro was the lone Indian in Asian Tour’s annual roll of honour.

21. LEANDER PAES
Age only seems to bring the best out of Leander Paes. The 35-year-old Indian with Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy won the French Open title, beating Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Belgium’s Dick Norman. After a first round exit from the Wimbledon, Paes and Dlouhy joined forces to claim the US Open against Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles. It was Paes’ 10th Grand Slam title. He also finished runners-up in mixed doubles with partner Cara Black in the Wimbledon and the US Open. One of the most indestructible Indian sportspersons, Lee is going for a double in 2010 - Commonwealth and Asian Games medals. His main aim is to carry on till the 2012 Olympics so that he can win another Olympic medal, this time in doubles. A crafty and canny player, Paes uses brain rather than brawn to get the better of his opponents. Tough and unyielding, he has learnt to play within himself as he showed in the doubles final against former partner Mahesh playing as he did with an injured shoulder. Akhtar Ali used to say Lee plays with 'chalaki'. That chalaki has stood him in good stead over the years. And he is not done yet. No, Sir, not by a long shot.

22. VIJENDER SINGH
After last year’s Olympic bronze, boxer Vijender Singh proved he was not a flash in the pan. Vijender silenced his critics when he won a bronze medal in the World Championships in September, the first-ever medal for India in the Championships. Later in the month, the Bhiwani boxer added yet another feat becoming the world’s number one boxer in the middle weight (75kg) category, the first Indian ever to do so. He was awarded the Khel Ratna along with Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar and women’s four-time world champion boxer Mary Kom.

23. SURANJOY SINGH
The gritty boxer from Manipur gave India its first Asian Championship gold in 15 years. A Mike Tyson fan, the 22-year-old flyweight pugilist, however, could not repeat his success in the World Championships at Milan, where he made a first round exit. Suranjoy worked on his game and returned to win gold at the prestigious AIBA President’s Cup in December. The win has only added to his hunger to win medals for India.

24. V DIJU and JWALA GUTTA
India’s top mixed doubles pair has been making waves on the international scene since renewing their partnership in early 2008, after a year’s break. Riding on their performance, they entered the top-10 in world rankings and made the cut for the World Championships in Hyderabad where they became the first Indian pair to reach the quarterfinals. They won the Chinese Taipei Open in August and finished the year on a high, reaching the final of the World Super Series Masters Finals in Malaysia earlier this year.25. PANKAJ ADVANI
It is hard to neglect Pankaj Advani when one talks of distinct achievements in Indian sports. The 24-year-old, who is the only player to have achieved the ‘grand double’ of winning both the points and time formats at the IBSF World Billiards Championships, winning it in 2005 and the 2008 Championships held in Bangalore, carried his form this year. Advani won the 2009 World Professional Billiards Championship in Leeds, his first World Professional Billiards Championship title, beating defending champion Mike Russell in the final. The World Championships last month however turned out to be a dampener for him.