New Delhi, 22nd September 2026: News18 India hosted ‘Jazba: Jadon Se Shikhar Tak’ in Delhi on September 18, bringing together the stories behind India’s biggest sporting victories and the challenges athletes face on their journey to the podium.
It was a first-of-its-kind platform that brought together some of the country’s leading sportspersons, policymakers, coaches, and voices from the sports industry for a day of candid conversations. The speakers enthusiastically engaged in discussions, sharing their perspectives on India’s growing sporting culture, the gaps that still need to be addressed, and how the country can nurture its talent and emerge as a stronger sporting nation.
A key focus of the conversations was the journey of sporting talent, from identifying potential at the grassroots to creating the support, infrastructure and opportunities needed to help athletes compete at the highest level. Some of India’s leading coaches, Uttam Majumdar, Professional Cricket Coach; Uday Vishwanath Deshpande, Indian Mallakhamb Coach; Jwala Singh, Global Cricket Coach; Jagdish Kaliraman, Wrestling Coach; and Gaurav Khanna, Head Coach, Indian National Para-badminton team, shared their experiences and insights from years of nurturing sporting talent. Many speakers also discussed India’s Olympic ambitions, the changing sports economy, the role of technology and innovation, and how sport is becoming a larger part of the country’s cultural and economic ecosystem.
Addressing the gathering through a recorded message and congratulating News18 India on its initiative, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Labour and Employment; Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India, called for collective efforts to build an India where every child has the opportunity to play, every talent is recognised, every sportsperson is respected, and the Tricolour flies proudly at sporting arenas across the world. He also emphasised the importance of building a fitter and healthier India.
Reflecting on his mission to transform India’s sports landscape, Kiren Rijiju, Union Cabinet Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and the Ministry of Minority Affairs GOI, shared that in sport, there is really only one goal: to play and to win. “But as Sports Minister, my biggest goal was to take sport to the common people. Our country has a long sporting tradition, but we have not yet developed a sporting culture. Small countries win multiple Olympic medals because the entire country is involved in sport. In India, when athletes win medals, we celebrate. But before they win those medals, we don’t pay much attention to sports.
“Creating a sporting culture was the biggest challenge for me, and that is what I made my priority,” he added.
Moving forward, sharing his thoughts on young cricketing talent and speaking about Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Shivam Dube, Cricketer, said, “Vaibhav is a very powerful hitter. I have never seen talent like his. He isn’t getting an opportunity right now because both our openers who have been playing regularly have scored a lot of runs for the team. So, they are being given the chance at the moment. Vaibhav will have to wait a little more.”
Sharing her journey and perspective on the evolution of para-sports in India, Deepa Malik, Paralympian, Khel Ratna, Padma Shri and Arjuna Awardee, said, “When India won its first women’s Paralympic medal in 2016, it also raised an important question: why did it take more than 70 years after Independence for an Indian woman to win a medal in disability sports? Clearly, there were gaps, and there was still a need to change mindsets.”
“I was very fortunate that after that, several initiatives and schemes came in, whether it was the Target Olympic Podium Scheme, the Accessible India Campaign or the Fit India Movement, which brought greater inclusion. Para-athletes became part of these policies. The term Divyang also brought with it a sense of respect and dignity, and we began to see a change in the social mindset,” she added
News18 India’s Jazba: Jadon Se Shikhar Tak brought together a day of insightful conversations and diverse perspectives around building a stronger sporting culture. The event spotlighted the voices working behind the scenes, shared the stories behind sporting victories, discussed the gaps that still need to be addressed, and explored how more young people can be supported in turning their passion for sport into a career.
