India will rise as sporting nation in next 10-15 years, says cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar

FORMER India cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar has said that India will rise as a 'sporting country' in the next decade to decade and half, while lauding historic achievements of javelin sensation Neeraj Chopra, chess prodigy R Praggnanandhaa and shuttler HS Prannoy in the recent days.

While Chopra on Sunday (27) became the first-ever Indian to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, while Praggnanandhaa last week created history by reaching the World Cup final in Baku, Azerbaijan, at just 18 years. Prannoy defeated the world No 1 Viktor Axelsen en route to winning a World Championships bronze in Copenhagen in Denmark.

“Earlier, you would see only a few sports would be talked about, media coverage would only be for those," the 74-year-old cricket icon told the media here after he was revealed as the principal advisor of the Midwicket Stories.

"Now all sports have got an outlet and exposure and because of the other sports, we are getting to see the (emergence of) stars." The Little Master, who was a member of India's first-ever world-cup winning squad in cricket in 1983, was brimming with joy as he witnessed Chopra's triumphant moment of becoming a world champion.

“I remember when he (Neeraj Chopra) had won the Tokyo Olympics gold, the India-England series was going on... "I was watching from England, and I was prompted to sing a song ‘Mere desh ki dharti sona ugle...' Yesterday, I experienced the same feeling,” he said.

“We had seen Neeraj two years earlier when he won the gold medal in the Olympics. Last year he won a silver medal, but for him it was important to win the gold medal and with a long throw he did it,” Gavaskar said.

“On the other hand, in badminton Worlds, Prannoy reached the semifinals and he defeated Viktor Axelsen. If you see, with the exposure that Indian sportspersons are getting... "If you think about America and Australia as sporting countries, I feel that in 10-15 years' time, India will also be called a sporting country,” he added.

The former India captain said Chopra's historic achievements will inspire others to take up javelin. “It inspires other (athletes),” he said.

“You would have seen that in this World Championship it was not just Neeraj, we had three throwers in the final.

"When one athlete does well it gives encouragement to others to take up the sport as well. It was a joyous moment,” he added. Gavaskar also backed Praggnanandhaa to win many accolades in his fledgling career. “Praggnanandhaa finished as the runner-up. He is just 18, going forward he can win many titles in the future,” Gavaskar said.

(With PTI inputs)