#TFGtake: Why does the national anthem not have Saina, Leander, Anand, Kom in it?

AS INDIA GETS ready to celebrate its 67th Republic Day, Indian sporting icons from the past and present have got together for a special version of our national anthem. 

Leading the entire team of sportsmen and woman, will be Sachin Tendulkar. The Master Blaster is accompanied by stalwarts like Sania Mirza, Dhanraj Pillai, Mahesh Bhupathi, Baichung Bhutia, Gagan Narang, Sushil Kumar and Sunil Gavaskar.

While, as sports fans, it’s a treat to see some of our national heroes showing their respect to the tri-color, it is also baffling to see the likes of Saina Nehwal, Leander Paes, Mary Kom, Vishwanathan Anand missing from the marquee names.

With due respect to all the great achievers who have featured in this video, wouldn’t it have been appropriate to see a few more deserving candidates in this video, especially when their achievements are greater? 

While we aren’t debating on the achievements of anybody, the video would have been more complete had it acknowledged some obvious sporting champions of your country. Their ommission stands out when one watches the ones in the video.

For example, it is perplexing to see the likes of Mahesh Bhupathi being chosen over his long-time partner Leander Paes. In terms of accomplishments in tennis, Leander has arguably achieved a lot more in singles, doubles competition. Also, he has been a vital cog in India’s Davis Cup wheel for almost two decades now. So, was Bhupathi selected on merit or did he get the nod for his recently gained business acumen and success? 

Continuing on tennis, Sania Mirza’s inclusion further raises a pertinent question on whether it was fair to ignore our ace shuttler Saina Nehwal? With a Bronze Medal and World no.1 tag in singles, it is difficult to see how the producers could have ignored this superstar. 

The biggest disparity is in in selecting only one woman athlete for the shoot. It would certainly have made the video more complete and balanced had the likes of Mary Kom and Nehwal been featured. 

Finally, our Grand Master V Anand’s exclusion too will raise a few eyebrows. For someone who has single handedly carried India’s hopes in Chess across continents and countries through multiple decades, it is inexplicable that the former world no.1 too has been overlooked.

We are not even going down the route of questioning why a PT Usha or a Milkha Singh doesn't fit in. It was important for the producers, while working on something as important as the national anthem, to have put in more thought into selection of the players so that wrong perceptions are not created and propagated.