Cricket is more of a reality show now: Jayanta Talukdar

Archery like any other sport requires a great deal of mental strength apart from physical fitness Despite this the Archery Association of India never felt the need to provide the national archery team with a mental conditioning coach lamented senior archer Jayanta Talukdar at an informal gathering where Olympic Gold Quest OGQ extended their support to him and former World No 1 archer Deepika Kumari In a freewheeling chat former World No 2 Talukdar speaks about the sport and beyond Excerpts from an interview Archer Jayanta Talukdar at Bajaj Bhavan Nariman Point PICBipin Kokate Indiarsquos performance at the London Olympics was below par What in your opinion went wrong We werenrsquot mentally prepared for the Olympics We practiced in Kolkata where the temperatures were hot and humid When we landed in London it was cold and windy Just a day after reaching there the entire menrsquos team and Deepika contracted fever Our body was so weak that the bow felt heavier Also the pressure weighed down on us Thatrsquos the time I feel that a psychologist could have made a difference Is mental conditioning the Indian teamrsquos Achilles heel Mental conditioning is one aspect where we need to train hard Before the London Olympics we asked the association to provide a psychologist but that plea fell on deaf ears So we stopped expecting anything from them In London Lords was full of spectators and the wind was blowing in a circular direction We had never witnessed or practiced in front of a huge crowd The reason why Koreans did as well as they did was because they had come prepared We did nothing I was participating in the Olympics but my preparations were like those for a national tournament So how can somebody win a medal We need a coach trainer and mental conditioning coach to get results Deepika missed out on a medal at the Olympics What do you think was the reason I feel that she underperformed because of immense pressure She was confused and couldnrsquot get the right judgement of the wind there Also being the World No 1 at such a young age she wasnrsquot that confident If you see the medal winners they are either in the late 20rsquos or early 30rsquos Archers are like wine they get better with age Your shortterm and longterm goalshellip My shortterm goal is to perform well in the upcoming World Cup stage 2 from June 1016 in Antalya Turkey Later I want to win an individual medal in next yearrsquos Asian Games in Incheon Korea But my ultimate goal is to win an Olympic medal Recently cricketrsquos image was tarnished by the spot fixing scandal Do you think that the stakeholders such as sponsors and media should shift their focus on other sports Definitely I think that cricket is not a sport anymore but itrsquos become more of a reality show Cricket is not an Olympic sport so why are we giving it so much importance How many countries play the sport 10 or 12 But in archery events more than 40 countries participate Every sport body has some politicians and that is not good for any sport What are your expectations from OGQ OGQ already supports Rahul Banerjee and Tarundeep Rai and ascertains that they get the best facilities They donrsquot have to worry about either international exposure or specific coaching Before being signed by the OGQ we used to request the federations to send us abroad but citing financial restrictions the government never sent us anywhere What do you do in your spare time And whatrsquos the one thing you miss when you are abroad I am a complete movie buff I am huge Salman Khan fan and Deepika Padukone is my favourite Bollywood actress When I am bored I sing loudly I am a very good bathroom singer After a long schedule I look forward to lsquoMaa ke haath ka khaanarsquo mdash chickenprawn curry I look forward the poori and aloo bhaaji breakfast that we are deprived of at the national campsu00a0