B R Sharan Kumar

      Kunigal is a solution, but it is not the finish line   By Sharan Kumar   The proposed compromise deed between the Karnataka Government and the Bangalore Turf Club should bring some relief to owners, trainers, jockeys, breeders, racing professionals and race-goers who have been anxiously watching the uncertainty surrounding Bangalore racing.   Yes, Kunigal is a solution, but it is not the finish line.   The settlement gives Bangalore racing a possible way forward, but important questions over finance, arrears, development and licensing still have to be answered.   The most important message is simple: Bangalore racing has a road ahead.   But there is a significant price for this settlement. BTC has to give up its claims over the present premises. Under the agreement, the Club unconditionally acknowledges the State Government's title and waives and abandons claims relating to ownership, adverse possession, per...

  How Delhi Race Club Was Allowed to Perish   The Delhi Race Club stands on the brink of losing its historic home, but the tragedy goes far beyond an eviction order. An institution that had decades to secure its future now faces extinction amid allegations of poor governance, mounting Government dues and a failure to act with urgency. More disturbingly, a democratic process that should have provided accountability appears to have become a mechanism for perpetuating control.   By Sharan Kumar   The Delhi Race Club has finally reached the point that many feared but few believed would actually come: the Government has ordered the club to vacate its 53.242-acre premises, bringing one of India's historic racing institutions to the brink of extinction.   But the most disturbing part of this story is not the eviction order of August 11. It is how an institution with decades to prepare for this moment was allowed to drift towards the precipice.   ...

  Developing Champions in Cricket : A Book That Goes Beyond the Boundary   By Sharan Kumar   Cricket has travelled a remarkable distance in India. Once confined largely to a handful of metropolitan centres, the game today has captured the imagination of children in the smallest towns and remotest corners of the country. Television, the IPL, and countless rags-to-riches stories have transformed cricket into a dream that knows no geographical boundaries. Every youngster now believes that with talent, guidance and opportunity, the journey to the top is possible.   It is against this backdrop that Developing Champions in Cricket , authored by noted journalist Vedam Jaishankar , assumes significance. More than a coffee table book, it is a thoughtful guide for parents, coaches and young cricketers embarking on their cricketing journey.   The Brijesh Patel Cricket Academy , the oldest private cricket academy of its kind in the country, deserves enormous...

        When Punters Need More Luck Than Form   By Sharan Kumar   Pune racing produced another day when favourites looked more like suggestions than selections, while outsiders repeatedly helped themselves to the spoils. From 20-to-1 winners to fancied runners finding creative ways to disappoint, punters were left wondering whether the form book had quietly resigned. Upsets are the salt in racing’s diet, but when they become the main course, the sport risks losing the confidence of the very people who keep the betting ring alive.   The problem is not that outsiders win. That is part of racing’s charm. The problem arises when the same pattern keeps repeating itself: stables enter two or more horses, good jockeys are put up on all of them, and punters are left trying to work out which one is actually expected to win. Inevitably, the horse carrying the biggest price, and consequently attracting the least attention, seems to find the winn...

  Ooty Race Course Lost, Eco-Park Plan Raises Larger Questions   By Sharan Kumar     With the Ooty Race Course already lost to the Madras Race Club, the proposed eco-park has sparked a wider debate on environmental priorities and the steady erosion of racing spaces in Tamil Nadu. Strikingly, resistance has come largely from environmentalists rather than the club itself. Coupled with growing pressure on the Guindy racecourse, concerns are mounting that racing is being undone as much by internal inaction as by external policy decisions.   The Nilgiri Documentation Centre (NDC) has pointed out that the proposal runs contrary to the government’s own decarbonisation goals for the district. As reported in The Hindu , Ooty currently falls far short of global norms for open spaces. Against a requirement of nearly 1,200 acres, the town is left with barely 55 acres of wetland, the race course,  making it a critical environmental asset rather than surpl...