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Post-Independence India
“A Memorable Sports Journey”!
- Chirag Raju Shitole, Rohan Agarwal, Saransh Saini & Sarthak Arvind Patil
After gaining independence from British India as,
colonial rule in 1947, sports in India underwent
significant developments and changes. In the realm of cricket, we’ve seen it all,
Here are some key aspects of sports in Legends like Sachin, who made giants fall,
India after independence: we can highlight With a bat in hand, they etched their
some important moments and milestones names,
in Indian sporting history. During the pre- In the annals of sports, they rose to fame.
independence era i.e. before 1947, India
made its first appearance on the global • Badminton, Prakash Padukone and
stage at the Olympic Games in 1900. Pullela Gopichand, renowned international
Subsequently, after Independence, the badminton players have won world titles
major achievements of India in sports can and spread the name of India on the global
be highlighted as horizon.
• 1951 Asian Games: India hosted the first • 1998 Bangkok Asian Games: India won 32
Asian Games in New Delhi. medals, including 7 gold medals.
• Milkha Singh, “The Flying Sikh” won several • 21st Century: Abhinav Bindra, was the
medals in athletics, including a gold medal 10-meter winner of the 2008 Olympics India
at the 1958 Commonwealth Games. won its first Olympic individual gold medal in
• 1952 Helsinki Olympics: Khashabah air rifle shooting. Mary Kom is a famous boxer
Dadasaheb Jadhav became India’s first who won multiple world championships. PV
individual Olympic medallist in wrestling. Sindhu: 2016 Rio Olympics Silver Medallist,
• In Cricket: Cricket began to grow in 2019 Badminton World Championship Gold
popularity during British colonial rule. Post- Medallist.
Independence, India’s victory over England • Neeraj Chopra: Won gold medal in javelin
in the 1971 Test series was a turning point in throw at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Hima
Indian cricket. The decade of 1980 to 1990 Das won several medals in international
was glorious for Indian cricket as under the competitions and became a star in the track
captainship of Kapil Dev, India won its first and field world. Sports such as kabaddi,
World Cup in 1983. Indian Premier League wrestling, and badminton have emerged in
(IPL) was launched in 2008. It revolutionized India, and several athletes have achieved
cricket and became a global T20 cricket international success.
phenomenon. MS Dhoni led the Indian • Women in sports: Indian women have
cricket team to victory in the 2007 ICC World made great strides in various sports, with
Twenty20, the 2010 and 2016 Asia Cup, and athletes like Saina Nehwal, Sakshi Malik, and
the 2011 ICC World Cup. Past ten years (since PV Sindhu achieving success on the world
2010) Virat Kohli one of the world’s best stage.
cricketers, and captain of the present Indian • Paralympic Games: India has seen an
cricket team has shown his capabilities and increase in Paralympic participation and
has made the Indian cricket team as world’s success, with athletes such as Devendra
one of the great cricket teams. Jhajaria and Maryappan Thangavelu
The success story of Indian Cricket is so winning gold medals. This is just a small
inspiring that Indian people world over, are part of the history of Indian sports in the
recognized as people who think, eat & sleep last 75 years. India’s sporting landscape is
cricket. A poem narrates the cricket fever in diverse, with successes in cricket, hockey,
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