Khel Ratna? Who's Playing with It?

First things First. I am an ardent Dhoni fan. I like his cool nature, the way he paces his innings, the way he shows no signs of nerve even when things are going wrong. He exemplifies everything that a captain or a leader must be.

Having said that, I also feel that the authorities have gone just a bit overboard by conferring the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, the highest honour for sporting excellence. That its given for exceptional performance in a single year and not over a period is also taken. But conferring the highest needs to be much more, right? Sachin Tendulkar got the award in 1998. That was by far his best year in cricket. But he was also at his best or atleast the national best in 1996 and 1997. He had to wait for 9 years for it.

I definitely feel Dravid must be feeling robbed. Just rewind to his exceptional performances in 1999, 2002,2003,2004. He was just unbeatable. As captain he won around 15 matches on the trot. These were performances that are unmatchable. Anil Kumble, the old-warhorse, is another person who has been overlooked. The number of matches he has won single-handedly is not matched even by Tendulkar. Even Ganguly was at the prime of his captaincy and form in 2000-01.

Having won the 20-20 World Cup is an achievement but it doesnt stand taller in front of the above mentioned ones. Captain Dhoni,in fact, grew from that victory itself. It was a collective effort.

I would like to take a cue from a marketing concept here. For a premium product, its essential that for every person who buys it, there must be thousand others who want to buy it but can't afford it. Khel Ratna is definitely premium. For every person who gets it there must be many more who want it but can't get it because its not easy. That would be value for the Award. There should be something exclusive and hard to get nature about it. A single year's performance must not define it.

If next year Robin Uthappa comes up with exceptional performance, would he too be given a Khel Ratna?
I don' t think so.
But according to the standards set, I think, he should be.