Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his recent interaction with the World Cup-winning Indian women’s cricket team, had a request. He told the girls to go back to the schools they had studied in and spend some time with the students.

An unusual request, one may think.

But the prime minister knows exactly where the ‘kundalini’ of sporting power lies. A nation’s sporting excellence rises from its grassroots, from little sparks of inspiration and opportunity which fire up young talent to run like a hound, leap like an impala, swim like a shark, and arch like a cat.

India has been quietly taking determined strides in sports, so much so that it is perhaps PM Modi’s most underrated contribution in the last 11 years.

His government has prioritised sports as a tool to empower the youth, forge national unity, and spur economic growth. It has integrated sports with the PM’s vision of Viksit Bharat (developed India) by 2047 as well as the National Education Policy. It has also pushed public-private partnership in........

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