India Is More Than Cricket: It Is Time We Became a Sporting Nation
Tomorrow, India will celebrate another Independence Day. There will be flags everywhere. The national anthem will be played. Speeches will be made. We will celebrate the people who have contributed to the country and remember those who fought to give us the freedom we enjoy today. And somewhere, as always, cricket will be playing in the background. There is nothing wrong with that. I love cricket. I have spent years playing it, watching it, writing about it and enjoying everything that makes the game special. Cricket is deeply woven into India's sporting culture, and it deserves its place. But sometimes I wonder whether we have allowed cricket to occupy too much of that place.
Because India is not a cricketing country alone.
India is a sporting country.
Or at least, it should become one.
We Celebrate the Medal, But Forget the Journey
Think about what happens when the Olympics arrive. For a few weeks, India becomes a nation of sports fans beyond cricket. We suddenly follow athletics. We learn the names of shooters, wrestlers, boxers, weightlifters and archers. We discover badminton players we may have never heard of before. Every event becomes a reason to stay awake, check a result or cheer for an athlete wearing the Indian jersey.
Then someone wins a medal. Suddenly, their story is everywhere. We learn about their childhood, their family, their hometown and the sacrifices that brought them to that moment. Their parents are interviewed. Their coaches become known. Their village celebrates. For a brief period, the entire country seems to know their name.
And then the Games end. The attention slowly moves elsewhere. The headlines become fewer. Television discussions return to their familiar sporting conversations, and many of the athletes we celebrated begin to disappear from the public eye.
Until the next Olympics. That is what needs to change.
An athlete's career does not begin when the Olympic Games begin, and it certainly does not end when the closing ceremony is over. The real story happens in the four years between those moments. It happens on training tracks before sunrise, in weight rooms, swimming pools, boxing rings, wrestling halls, shooting ranges and badminton courts. It happens during domestic competitions, international qualifiers, injuries, defeats, comebacks and countless hours of training when there are no cameras and no headlines.
The medal is only the moment we see.
The journey is everything we don't.
So perhaps it is time we stopped asking only, "Who won the medal?"
Instead, let's start asking:
"Who is working towards winning the next one?"
Because if we follow the journey, we won't have to wait four years to discover our athletes.
Imagine If We Followed Athletes Like We Follow Cricketers
We know when the Indian cricket team's next series begins. We know who has been selected, who is injured, who is fighting for a place and who is struggling for form. We follow press conferences, post-match interviews and, sometimes, even what players share on social media. There is nothing wrong with that level of interest. In fact, it shows what happens when a sport becomes part of a country's everyday culture.
But why shouldn't we build the same connection with our athletes from other sports?
Imagine following an Indian sprinter through an entire season—not just during the Olympics. We could know which international meets she is competing in, what her personal best is, how her times are improving and what she needs to achieve to qualify for the next major championship.
Imagine following a young wrestler from the national championships to the Asian Championships, tracking every victory, setback and improvement along the way.
Imagine knowing the weightlifter who is quietly preparing for her next international competition, long before she steps onto the podium.
Imagine following an Indian badminton player's ranking battle week after week, understanding the tournaments she needs to play and the points she needs to defend, rather than suddenly discovering her when she reaches an Olympic final.
This is how sporting cultures are built. They are not created by discovering athletes when they win. They are created by knowing them before they win.
When we follow the journey, the athlete becomes more than a name on a scoreboard. We begin to understand the person, the effort, the setbacks and the ambition behind the performance.
And when that athlete finally stands on the podium, we don't just celebrate a medal.
We celebrate a journey we have been part of.
The Numbers Tell Us Something Important
India's recent Olympic and Paralympic performances tell us something important: we are becoming a much stronger sporting nation. The talent is there. The ambition is there. The results are beginning to show.
At the Paris 2024 Olympics, India won six medals across athletics, shooting, hockey and wrestling. Neeraj Chopra won silver in the javelin, Manu Bhaker became the first Indian athlete to win two medals at a single edition of the Olympics, Swapnil Kusale won bronze in shooting, the men's hockey team claimed bronze and Aman Sehrawat won bronze in wrestling.
Look at the range of sports represented there.
Athletics.Shooting.Hockey.Wrestling.
Different disciplines. Different athletes. Different stories. Yet they all carried the same flag.
And then came the Paralympics.
India produced an even more remarkable campaign, winning 29 medals—seven gold, nine silver and thirteen bronze—finishing 18th on the medal table. It was India's most successful Paralympic campaign to that point, improving significantly on the 19 medals won at Tokyo 2020.
Twenty-nine medals. Think about that for a moment. That is not a footnote to India's sporting story. It is a major chapter in it.
Athletes such as Harvinder Singh, Sheetal Devi and many others gave us moments that deserved to be remembered long after the Games ended. Sheetal Devi, competing without arms and using her feet to shoot, won a bronze medal in para archery on her Paralympic debut. Harvinder Singh then went on to win India's first-ever Paralympic gold in para archery.
These are extraordinary stories. But here is the uncomfortable question:
How many of us can name ten Indian Paralympic athletes?
How many could tell you which sport they compete in?
How many know when their next competition is?
How many follow their careers between the Paralympics?
And the same question can be asked about our Olympians.
We celebrate Neeraj Chopra when he throws the javelin at the Olympics, but do we follow his season? We celebrate our shooters when they win medals, but do we know their international calendar? We cheer for wrestlers, badminton players and hockey players when the spotlight is brightest, but how closely do we follow them when there are no medals being handed out?
That is the real issue.
The athletes are doing their part. Perhaps we need to do ours.
A medal should not be the beginning of our interest in an athlete. It should be the continuation of a story we already know. Because behind every medal is a career filled with competitions, defeats, injuries, comebacks, rankings, qualification battles and thousands of hours of training. If we only discover these athletes when they stand on the podium, we are seeing the final frame of a much bigger story. And perhaps that is why their achievements sometimes feel like isolated moments rather than part of India's growing sporting identity.
We don't need to wait for the next Olympics to become sports fans.
We can start today.
Follow the athlete.
Follow the sport.
Follow the journey.
And perhaps, over time, India will stop being known simply as a country that loves cricket and become something much bigger:
A country that loves sport.
The Media Has a Responsibility Too
It is easy to blame the media for cricket's dominance in India. But the reality is a little more complicated. The media follows the audience, and the audience follows what the media gives it more often. Cricket attracts enormous attention because people watch it, click on stories, discuss matches and share content. Broadcasters see a large commercial audience, newspapers see strong readership and digital platforms see high engagement. And so, the cycle continues.
More coverage creates more interest. More interest creates more viewers. More viewers create more commercial value. More commercial value creates more coverage.
Cricket has built this cycle exceptionally well. Now imagine if we could create the same cycle for other sports. Research into Indian sports journalism has consistently highlighted cricket's dominant position in sports coverage. Studies examining leading newspapers have found cricket receiving far greater attention than many other sports. That tells us something about the existing media landscape—but it doesn't mean the situation cannot change.
And the answer isn't to give cricket less coverage.
The answer is to give other sports more.
Give athletics a proper season-long story, not just a few paragraphs when an athlete wins a medal. Give hockey regular coverage and analysis. Follow badminton rankings and tournament results throughout the year. Give wrestling its own space. Talk about weightlifting, boxing, archery, swimming, table tennis, football and para-sports regularly.
Most importantly, don't wait for an athlete to win a medal before telling their story.
Tell the story before the medal arrives.
Introduce the athlete. Explain the sport. Follow the competition. Celebrate the progress. Report the setbacks.
If we want people to care about these sports, we have to give them a reason to care. Because sporting heroes are not created on the podium alone. They are created by the stories we tell about them long before they get there.
Grassroots Is Where the Real Revolution Begins
Changing public interest alone will not make India a sporting nation. We need a strong sporting system that gives young athletes the opportunity to discover their talent, develop it and take it as far as they can.
There is already some progress. The Khelo India programme has been designed to strengthen sport at the grassroots level through better infrastructure, talent identification, competitions, academies, school fitness and support for women and para-athletes. The government has also expanded the programme with more sporting facilities, Khelo India Centres and support for thousands of athletes.
These are encouraging steps. But a sports programme is only the beginning. The real challenge is turning these initiatives into a sporting culture.
Building a stadium is not enough if there are no children using it. We need good coaches who can identify talent and develop it. We need regular competitions where young athletes can test themselves. We need qualified officials, sports scientists, physiotherapists and nutrition support. We need safe transport, proper equipment and facilities that are available throughout the year. Most importantly, we need a clear pathway.
A talented child should know how to move from school to district, district to state, state to national and eventually to the international level.
And there is one more piece that cannot be ignored: parents. Parents need to believe that sport is not simply an after-school activity or a hobby. For a talented and committed child, it can become a genuine career. If we can create that environment, India will not have to search for sporting talent.
We will be developing it everywhere.
Every District Should Become a Sporting Ecosystem
Imagine if every district in India had a strong sporting identity. One district could become known for athletics. Another for wrestling. Another for badminton, hockey, football or archery. This would not mean simply building a stadium and putting up a signboard. It would mean creating an entire sporting ecosystem around that sport.
Schools could identify young talent. Local coaches could develop it. District-level competitions could give athletes regular opportunities to compete. State academies could take promising athletes to the next level, while universities could provide another pathway for talented youngsters to continue both their education and their sporting careers.
Corporate sponsors could support promising athletes. National federations could provide specialist coaching. Sports scientists, physiotherapists and medical teams could help athletes reach their full potential. And the media could tell their stories so that the public gets to know these athletes long before they reach the biggest stage.
That is how sporting nations are built. Not by celebrating one Olympic medal every four years.
By giving thousands of children the opportunity to play, compete, improve and dream every single day.
Schools Must Become the Starting Point
Perhaps the biggest change needs to begin in our schools. For too long, sport has been treated as something children do after the "important" subjects are finished. As if running on a track, playing football or learning to swim is simply a break from education.
We need to change that thinking.
A child running on a track is not wasting time.
A child learning badminton is not avoiding studies.
A child swimming in a pool is not simply playing.
Sport is also education. It teaches discipline, teamwork, patience and resilience. It teaches children how to handle failure, make decisions under pressure and keep trying when things don't go their way. These are lessons that stay with them long after the final whistle.
The Khelo India programme recognises the importance of school participation, physical fitness, community sport and early talent identification. But we need to take that idea much further. Every school should have access to a basic multi-sport programme. Children should have opportunities to experience athletics, football, hockey, badminton, basketball, swimming or other sports depending on what facilities are available.
The objective isn't to turn every child into an athlete. It is to give every child the opportunity to discover what they enjoy and what they might be good at. And when a child shows exceptional talent, there should be a clear pathway to develop it—without forcing them to choose between education and sport.
Because today's school playground could be where tomorrow's Olympic journey begins.
If we want India to become a sporting nation, we have to start by making every child a part of sport.
And We, the Fans, Have a Role Too
This is not just a media problem. It is not only the responsibility of the government or sporting federations. It is also ours. As fans, we have the power to influence which sports get attention. Every click, view, conversation and ticket tells someone that a particular sport matters. So the next time you open a sports website, don't automatically go to the cricket headline.
Take a moment to look at the athletics results.
Read about an Indian badminton player.
Find out what is happening in hockey.
Watch a wrestling match.
Follow a young footballer.
Learn about para-athletics.
Watch a weightlifting competition.
Find an Indian athlete whose name you have never heard before—and follow their journey. Share their achievements. Talk about their performances. Introduce their stories to your friends and family. And when they compete in your city, go and watch them. We often say that our athletes deserve more recognition.
Recognition, however, begins with attention. And the simplest way to tell an athlete that their effort matters is to show up.
Be there. Watch them compete. Follow their journey.
Because if we want other sports to grow in India, we cannot simply ask someone else to build the audience.
We have to become that audience.
Cricket Doesn't Need to Lose for Other Sports to Win
This needs to be said clearly. This is not an argument against cricket. Cricket has given India some of its greatest sporting memories. It has created superstars, connected generations and given millions of people a shared passion. It has also created jobs, careers and a huge sporting economy. There is nothing wrong with celebrating cricket. The problem begins when our love for one sport leaves little room for the others.
India does not need less cricket. India needs more sport.
More athletes.
More coaches.
More competitions.
More playgrounds and better sporting facilities. More broadcasters willing to tell stories beyond cricket. More sponsors willing to invest in different sports. More journalists following athletes throughout their careers. And most importantly, more children getting the opportunity to play.
We don't have to choose between cricket and other sports. We can cheer for Virat Kohli and Neeraj Chopra. We can watch the IPL and follow Indian hockey. We can celebrate a Test victory and stay up to watch an Indian badminton final. There is room for all of it. Because the dream should not be to become a country that is famous for one sport.
The dream should be to become a country that loves sport.
This Independence Day, Let's Expand Our Sporting Freedom
Tomorrow, as the national flag rises, perhaps we should take a moment to think about what sporting independence really means. It should mean giving every child the freedom to discover a sport they love. It should mean giving talented athletes the opportunity to pursue that sport and the support they need to reach their potential. It should mean better facilities, good coaching, medical support, proper competitions and a clear path from the playground to the international stage.
But there is something else athletes need from us.
Our attention.
Medals don't suddenly appear on a podium.
They begin with a child running on a dusty ground.
They begin with a coach staying back after training.
They begin with a parent making sacrifices.
They begin with an athlete losing a competition, getting back up and trying again.
And they continue through thousands of ordinary days when there are no cameras, no headlines and no crowds. That is where sporting success is really built.
We cannot call ourselves a great sporting nation if we become interested in our athletes only once every four years. India has never lacked sporting talent. Perhaps what we have lacked is the habit of looking beyond cricket. So this Independence Day, let's make a small change.
Keep watching cricket. Keep celebrating it. Keep enjoying everything the game gives us.
But open another sporting page too.
Watch an athletics race.
Find a hockey match.
Follow a badminton player.
Learn the name of a weightlifter.
Watch an Indian football game.
Discover a para-athlete.
And when you find an athlete whose story inspires you, don't wait for the next medal.
Follow the journey.
Because somewhere in India, right now, another sporting story is being written.
Another child is training.
Another athlete is chasing a dream.
Another coach is building a champion.
The next great Indian sporting story may already be happening.
This time, let's be there to see it.
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