In 1983, just before India went on to defeat West Indies in the ICC ODI World Cup final, the Kapil Dev-led side had found itself in a tricky position against Zimbabwe in a league match. When the 24-year-old Indian skipper had come out to bat, India was struggling at 9 for 4 before being reduced to 17 for 5. The fans then witnessed one of the finest knocks by an Indian batsman as Kapil Dev went on to smash 175 runs from just 138 balls, guiding India to a comfortable win. As unfortunate as it was, there were no cameras present at the ground to record this historic game, courtesy BBC being on strike. This means that there is no film footage of the innings that probably changed the face of Indian cricket forever. In the modern day, this is unimaginable.

35 years down the line, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is trying its best to promote sports in India. The recently held Khelo India Games was a major step in this direction as a whopping 3298 athletes competed for a total of 199 gold medals, 199 silver medals and 275 bronze medals across sixteen sports including Archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, gymnastics, judo, shooting, swimming, weightlifting, wrestling, basketball, football, hockey, kabaddi, Kho-Kho and volleyball.

The games were broadcast by Star Sports across diverse regions of the country, making it the first private broadcaster to do so. The broadcaster delivered 8 hours of live coverage each day across 3 of its channels- Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1HD, Star Sports First as well as Hotstar. The highlights of the games were then aired across Star India’s bouquet of channels in Asia Pacific, UK & continental Europe as well as the Middle-East to drive international exposure and recognition for India’s future sporting stars.

These games provided many Indian youngsters with a platform to showcase their talent including Delhi’s young sprinter Nisar Ahmed. A known name in the domestic circuit, Nisar is considered as a prodigy amongst his peers, someone destined to carry the baton of Indian athletics forward. The Khelo India School Games came as a moment of glory for the Delhi boy.

“I cannot tell you how much joy it brings me to hear about my son’s achievements. We have always backed him and will continue to do so irrespective of our condition. Looking at Nisar now getting the recognition for all his hard work and hardships we have endured, I don’t have the words to express my gratitude,” said Nisar’s mother, who’s employed as a house help in Delhi.

Talking about this initiative, Star India’s Managing Director, Sanjay Gupta said that Star India and the Ministry of Youth Affairs together intend to realize a vision of making 30 crore children actively participate in sporting activities for an hour, every day.

“What Nisar has accomplished at such a young age is a testament to the kind of sporting talent we have spanning the length and breadth of our country. All we have needed is a platform that allows such extraordinary youngsters to come forth and express themselves. With Khelo India, these youngsters don’t only get an opportunity to showcase their skills but also a chance to get identified early so that they can be fostered and moulded into sporting stars of tomorrow,” he said.

Various celebrities had also lent support to Khelo India School Games. Akshay Kumar who was present at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium to promote the initiative recently had said, “I am delighted to see that for the first time ever, through the Khelo India School Games & the broadcast of it on the Star Sports network, young sporting talent is being recognized and rewarded instantly. But this is only the beginning and I hope that the Khelo India movement gets the right momentum through your support. So, come forward and support the Khelo India movement. Saath mein hai Hum, Khelo India!”

The Khelo India Anthem which was released last month, reached 200m people across digital platforms YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The effort was praised by other celebrities including Sachin Tendulkar and Amitabh Bachchan.

In a country where our focus has mostly been on cricket and sports at school level have been neglected, Khelo India School Games come as a new hope, giving athletes an unprecedented coverage. has it been a success? Too early to call!