ABP Ideas Of India: Sporting Nation — Kapil Dev, Zafar Iqbal, Anju B George, Leander Paes To Share Views And Vision

ABP Network's Ideas of India Summit will bring the best minds from various fields to talk about the journey of India so far and share their vision for the future.

ABP Network's Ideas Of India | Kapil Dev, Leander Paes and Zafar Iqbal (Getty Images)

New Delhi: What qualifies for a country to be called a "sporting nation"? Does the dominance in one field or a sport make the country a true sporting favourite?

As we may ponder and get into lengthy debates, let us agree that athletic ability showcased on global platforms do define a nation's abilities to a great extent.

Looking back at history, Australia that is considered a sporting powerhouse now has been through a long journey to become that. Australia's lean patch was evident in the 1976 Montreal Olympics when the country failed to bag a single gold medal and had only 5 medals (one silver and four bronze) to its name. Introspecing after its dismal performance at the quadrennial event, Australia vowed to come back stronger and established the Australian Institute of Sport in 1981 to ready the next generation of athletes.

Even a country like China, whose Olympic participation pedigree is lesser than nations like the UK (England) or India, have their dominance shown at the global sporting event. As of 2022, China has finished first in Summer Olympics once, finished second thrice, and at the third spot twice in total 11 Olympic appearances.

India has achieved a lot in sports in the 75 years since Independence — from hockey Olympic Golds to Cricket World Cup wins to individual excellence. So, what should be the way ahead for the country of 136 crore people to make it a top-of-the-world sporting nation?

The country's best sporting minds are coming together at ABP Network's 'Wild Stone presents Ideas of India' summit to discuss and share views on what makes India a sporting nation and what's next.

The first edition of the two-day summit will take place in Mumbai on March 25-26. 

The conversation on 'The Sporting Nation' will see Zafar Iqbal, former captain of the Indian hockey team and member of Olympic gold medal-winning team, Kapil Dev, cricket legend and captain of 1983 World Cup-winning team, former Olympian Anju Bobby George, Indian Long Jumper and Vice President-Athletics Federation of India, and Leander Paes, 18 time Grand Slam Champion and singles Olympic medal winner discuss "We Are The Champions: Patience, Perseverance, Practice".

Not just sports, ABP Network's Ideas of India summit will be bringing the best minds from various other fields to talk about the journey of India so far and share their vision for the future.

Tune in to ABP Network on March 25 and 26 to catch glimpse of the best minds talking about their vision for India and the next steps that can be taken.