Notes on the Commonwealth Games of 2018

abn397 Asian Games, Asian Games 2018, Commonwealth Games, Cricket at Commonwealth Games, India at Commonwealth Games, wooden spoon, , , , ,

This is a follow up to https://abn397.wordpress.com/2018/09/02/notes-on-the-asian-games-of-2018/ .

In recent years it has been apparent that the standard of the Asian Games is higher than that of the Commonwealth Games, so more attention is focused on the former. However, it is worth having a quick look at the 2018 CWG and India’s performance there and in earlier CWGs.

First, the 2018 medals tables:

https://sports.ndtv.com/commonwealth-games-2018/medals-tally

Note the large number of countries/territories which failed to win a single medal. The largest countries with this status are Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia.

While Sri Lanka and Bangladesh drew a blank in the Asian Games later in the year, they did win something here.

Here is how India has fared in the CWG over the years:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_at_the_Commonwealth_Games

It can be seen that India’s best performance was when they were hosts in 2010, and that they have slipped somewhat since then.

And finally, the one occasion that cricket featured in the CWG. In this 1998 Games at Kuala Lumpur, India participated with a second-string team. So did several other countries. These 50-over matches had List A status but were not classified as ODIs. India did not win a medal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_at_the_1998_Commonwealth_Games

This was the first time that South Africa won a major cricket tournament (though this was not taken seriously by cricket followers). They did however win the first ICC Knock-out championship in 1999. This championship became the Champions Trophy in subsequent years. They are still waiting for another major tournament win.