Published – April 24, 2025 05:23 pm IST
Sports
‘It’s the collective responsibility of everyone’: Virat Kohli calls for a ‘sports forward nation’ – The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Star Indian batter and former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Virat Kohli has called for a collective effort to transform India into a “Sports Forward Nation” by 2036. Speaking at the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit, Kohli emphasised the need for a holistic approach that goes beyond infrastructure and includes educating the public about sports to build a robust sporting culture.
“We are working towards India becoming a Sports 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,” Kohli said.
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“We don’t need the celebration and fanaticism, we need the education of the sport. 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.”
Kohli also highlighted the growing prominence of women’s sports in India, acknowledging the progress made over the past few years. He praised women athletes for being their own catalysts, drawing attention to themselves through their performances.
“They were their own catalysts and kind of put the attention onto them. I literally saw it happening like in a time span of 6-7 years. The way they started playing, you could see that belief and then people started engaging in that a lot. And eventually, it got to a place where, you know, the commercials became better, money was being infused into the women’s game, and then you have the WPL,” Kohli commented.
He stressed that developing a sporting culture requires a collective effort, and that women’s sports should be an integral part of that vision.
“Looking at men for the improvement of sport in any country, it has to be a collective. Sports culture includes everyone, and women’s sport is a massive part of it. We have so much data in women’s sports, not just cricket but all the others. We are creating individual activities over the year in tennis, badminton, wrestling, boxing. So, I think it’s definitely heading in the right direction and it needs more backing and more and more infrastructure to be developed,” Kohli shared.
Sports
Mohammed Shami calls Hardik Pandya ‘bhai’ and asks for his autograph – WATCH – The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Rohit Sharma struck his second consecutive half-century and stitched a crucial 53-run stand with Suryakumar Yadav (40*), powering Mumbai Indians to a dominant seven-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL on Wednesday. Chasing a modest target of 144, Mumbai wrapped up the win in just 15.4 overs, marking their fourth straight win and third successful chase in a row.
The chase was anchored by Rohit, who was at his fluent best with a 46-ball 70. He took charge early, launching Pat Cummins over deep square leg for a six and following it up with a crisp four in the third over.
Showing great awareness of the flat Hyderabad pitch, Rohit—who came in as an impact sub—was quick to capitalize, especially when Jaydev Unadkat took the pace off the ball. A powerful lofted six over cover in the fourth over set the tone for what would be a commanding innings.
Rohit’s composed yet aggressive approach, blending caution with controlled aggression, proved too good for the SRH bowlers. With Suryakumar complementing him well, the result was never in doubt.
Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad, after a poor start, were bailed out by Heinrich Klaasen’s counter-attacking 71 off 44 balls. He shared a 99-run partnership with Abhinav Manohar (43 off 37), helping SRH recover to 143/8. Despite their efforts, it proved too little against a resurgent Mumbai side.
In a light-hearted post-match moment, SRH pacer Mohammad Shami was seen taking Hardik Pandya’s autograph on an ICC Champions Trophy 2025 jersey. Both players were part of India’s victorious campaign, where they beat New Zealand by four wickets in the final held in Dubai.
Mumbai, now with back-to-back wins over SRH this season, continue to build strong momentum in their campaign.
Sports
Daily Quiz | Sachin Tendulkar’s IPL performance
Sports
IPL 2025 | Ishan Kishan’s bizarre dismissal in SRH-MI clash raises eyebrows
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Ishan Kishan
| Photo Credit: Reuters
India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan’s bizarre caught-behind when his bat did not come in contact with the ball during an embarrassing SRH batting collapse on Wednesday (April 23, 2025) caught the eye in the IPL clash against Mumbai Indians.
Left-hander Kishan, who had just opened his account in the previous over, tried to work pacer Deepak Chahar’s first delivery, which was drifting down the leg side. The ball was collected by MI wicketkeeper Ryan Rickelton and neither him nor the bowler showed any inclination to appeal for a caught behind.
On-field umpire Vinod Seshan was also close to declaring it a wide. But, to everyone’s surprise, Kishan walked away, indicating he had edged it to the keeper.
Surprised by the batter’s move, Seshan too raised his finger.
Kishan’s gesture had MI skipper Hardik Pandya — who had appealed half-heartedly — pat the left-hander on his helmet and shoulders.
Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya interacts with Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman Ishan Kishan as the latter returns after being dismissed during the IPL match on April 23, 2025
| Photo Credit:
K.V.S. Giri
Replays showed the ball was drifting away from Kishan’s bat when it passed the left-hander, and there was no spike on the UltraEdge either.
It is believed that, on most occasions, a batter comes to know whether he has edged the ball or not. But given the situation SRH are in on the points table — they are placed ninth — they needed to make the most of a flat batting wicket. Kishan’s dismissal saw SRH slump to 9/2 in the third over.
“You think you have seen it all after all these years and yet I must admit the Ishan Kishan’s dismissal leaves me perplexed,” wrote commentator Harsha Bhogle on X, expressing his surprise at the turn of events.
Published – April 24, 2025 12:59 pm IST
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