Prime Minister Narendra Modi may not claim to be a cricket connoisseur, but when it comes to team dominance, the scoreboard does all the talking. In a candid conversation with popular American podcaster Lex Fridman on Sunday, Modi offered his straightforward take on the age-old cricket rivalry between India and Pakistan.
“I am not an expert, I do not know the technique of this game, only experts can tell you that, but just a few days ago, India and Pakistan played a match. The result reveals which is the better team. That’s how we know,” Modi quipped. And he wasn’t wrong — India recently lifted the Champions Trophy and cruised past Pakistan in an undefeated tournament run.
Beyond the cricket pitch, Modi underlined sports as a unifying force. “Sports have the power to energise the entire world. The spirit of sports brings people together across different nations. That’s why I would never want to see sports being discredited. They are not just games; they connect people on a deeper level,” he said.
Switching from cricket to football, Modi shared an unexpected nugget about India’s footballing fervor, particularly in a tiny town that has earned itself an unlikely nickname.
“There’s a district called Shahdol, a completely tribal region where a large tribal community resides. When I visited, I noticed around 80 to 100 young boys and even older youth, all dressed in sports jerseys. I asked them, ‘Where are you all from?’ and they replied, ‘We’re from Mini Brazil,’” Modi recalled.
Curious, he probed further, only to learn that football has been a way of life there for generations. “In our village, football has been played for four generations. Nearly 80 national-level players have come from here. Our entire village is dedicated to football,” the locals told him. And their passion isn’t just local chatter—during their annual football match, nearly 25,000 spectators from neighboring villages gather to watch the game unfold.
When asked to pick the greatest footballer of all time, Modi acknowledged the icons who have left their mark across generations. “In the 1980s, one name always resonated, and that was Maradona. For that generation, he was a true hero. If you ask today’s generation, they’ll mention Lionel Messi.”