Today India saw many colours of the Indian cricket team. When they landed at the airport, they danced with the common fans. When they reached the hotel, they danced with the hotel staff as well as the band players. They cut the cake. Then they met the Prime Minister of the country. The programme to meet the Prime Minister was held in the same jersey that the team had worn to become the world champion. After this, the team reached Mumbai. In Mumbai, a convoy of players left in an open jeep. After this, the players reached the place where they were crowned the world champion last time – that is, Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. Thousands of fans participated in all these programmes. Millions of people sitting in different cities saw the glimpses of the honour on television sets. There were people of every age. There were people of every class. There were cricket fans, there were cricket players. Among these players, there were also children of 8-10 or 12 years. Who are crazy about cricket. They are ready to be scolded for playing cricket. Some are even ready to be beaten up. Those children must have also seen the glory of their cricket stars today.

This is the era of social media. It is not necessary that you watch everything on TV. You have a mobile in your hand and there is internet in the mobile. Nothing more is needed. Today, lakhs of small children playing cricket in different cities of the country must have understood how much love, respect and honour the world champions get. Out of these lakhs of children, a dream will start growing in the eyes of thousands of children today itself - to become a world champion when they grow up. To become Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jaspreet Bumrah when they grow up… that is why remember the date of 4th July 2024. Don't be surprised if after 10-12 years from today, if any world champion player says that he had vowed to play for the country only after seeing the celebration of the victory of the Indian team in 2024.

Our thinking about sports has changed

The time has passed when it was said that if you play and jump, you will be spoilt, if you study and write, you will become a prince. Now the thinking of the society has changed regarding sports. Today people want their children to play a sport. They should go out of the house. They should go to the park, to the ground. Many parents are very conscious about the sports of their children. They take their children to the academy. Apart from cricket, people's interest has also increased in other sports. If the coach sees potential in the child, then the parents become more serious. You will also find such parents in which either the mother or the father has left his job. This is so that the child's sport is taken more seriously.

There are hundreds of such examples. PV Sindhu's parents decided to live near Pullela Gopichand's academy in Hyderabad. Golfer Aditi Ashok's parents also gave priority to their daughter's game instead of giving priority to their job. This happened because today it does not seem impossible for a player living in the neighborhood to represent the country, today it does not seem impossible for your neighbor's child to be selected in the IPL. Now cricket is not played only by players from Mumbai, Bangalore or Delhi. Today, the Indian team has Virat from Delhi and Rohit Sharma from Mumbai too... Kuldeep Yadav from Kanpur and Akshar Patel from Gujarat are also there. The game of cricket is no longer confined to a few cities. That is why RP Singh from Rae Bareli also plays for India and so does Munaf Patel from Ikhar.

Success also changes the equation of the game

It is not that the thinking or perspective towards sports has changed only in cricket. Apart from cricket, the situation has also changed rapidly in sports like boxing, shooting, badminton, tennis. It is important to understand the reason behind this. As sports get their champion players, the popularity of that sport will increase. That is why when Rajyavardhan Rathore wins silver in shooting in Athens or Abhinav Bindra wins gold medal in Beijing, shooting academies start in many schools. When Vijender wins Olympic medal in boxing or Sushil-Yogeshwar wins Olympic medal in wrestling, sports like wrestling and boxing also get expanded. The graph of success of Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal rises so much that people start naming their daughters Sania and Saina in their homes.

We also have to accept the fact that the government's approach has changed. Now, efforts are made to provide every facility to the players so that they can win. The government not only promotes Khelo India Khelo, but also makes such plans that provide facilities to the players. This country has also read such news that players had to sell medals to earn their livelihood. Now such a situation does not arise. Now, if a player has represented the country in any sport and has brought success at levels like Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, then he is financially capable of living a respectable life. That is why the dreams of children playing any sport in small and big localities of every city do not break but those dreams get strength.