Virat Kohli envisions India as sport-forward nation by 2036, emphasizes importance of education in sports

Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Virat Kohli, one of the greatest batters in the game of cricket, was at his candid best speaking at the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit.

Kohli spoke at length in the session moderated by the former England cricketer Isa Guha. Notably, the Indian cricket stalwart discussed how India could, in the years to come, become a major sporting powerhouse.  

“We are working towards India becoming a Sport-Forward Nation by 2036. As I said, we have the vision, we have the groundwork happening today. I think it's the collective responsibility of everyone who gets involved. Not just the infrastructure, not just the people who are going to infuse the money, not just the athletes, but people who want to be educated about the sport. We don't need the celebration and fanaticism; we need the education of the sport," Kohli said.

"The education around the sport, for us as a country, is also very important. Once the education around sport takes place, the experience will be 10 times what it is today and that will be a big step towards us being a Sports-Forward Nation," he continued further.

Kohli, who made his international debut in 2008, is the one who led by example when conversations around a fitter Indian cricket team surfaced. When asked about what moved the needle for him, the former captain revealed his self-realization moment and how an athlete should really prepare himself in the long run. Interestingly, he also pointed out how he ended up taking the path of change. The Indian batting stalwart revealed that this happened because of some tough overseas tours with Team India.

“I had a realization that I need to change the way I'm preparing as an athlete. And then, from the next day, I changed everything about my diet, my training. Motivation was something that came from within. No one had to force me to do it. But I think the build-up to that was when I had a couple of very difficult overseas tours. And I figured out that, you know, the reason that we were falling short is because the other team was physically way fitter than us," the former Indian captain explained.

'It has to be a collective sports culture' - Kohli on reducing gap between cricket and other sports

While India is cricketing powerhouse beyond comparison at this point in time, Kohli is hopeful that other sports will close the gap sooner rather than later. He asserted that once the infrastructure is in place, it is the intent of the athlete that is most important.

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“I always felt like if I don't set my bar that high, I will not be able to push myself beyond my limits, so I want to be the best and then all the answers will come to me from that point and that ended up being the case,” he commented. 

“It is important to have conversations around sports. What are the rules? What do the athletes go through? It has to be a progressive project which helps all sports. It has to be a collective sports culture that includes everyone. And women's sport is a massive part of it. And we have so much talent in the women's sports, not just cricket, but all the other sports here,” Kohli concluded while answering about what he thought of other sports's probable future course.