Your phone buzzes. A high-definition vertical video rolls down your feed, set to a bass-heavy Anirudh track. A 15-year-old kid with a helmet three sizes too big effortlessly steps inside a 145 clicks thunderbolt and deposits it into the second tier of an IPL stadium. Within thirty seconds, you’ve dissected his wrist-work, liked the post, and decided exactly where he fits in the pantheon of Indian greats.

Before Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has even earned his senior cap, likely in Ireland later today, he has already been algorithmically mapped, memeified, and consumed by millions. By the time he makes his international debut, there is nothing left to discover. His rise has unfolded entirely in a public cloud.

Which raises a rather surreal question: If this is how we discover our geniuses today, how on earth did India discover Sachin Tendulkar in 1989?

For anyone under thirty, teenage Sachin is essentially family folklore. We didn’t discover him through an algorithm; we inherited him from our fathers, who leaned back in their chairs to recite the gospel of a bloodied nose in Sialkot and four legendary sixes against Abdul Qadir in Peshawar.

We treat those grainy, endlessly recycled clips as Sachin’s definitive origin story, none more famous than that iconic, slightly awkward BBC interview where a curly-haired teenager softly explains his game to Tom Alter.

Except, they weren’t.

By the time Tendulkar walked out for his Test debut in Karachi, India wasn’t discovering a teenager; they were unveiling a deity. Long before anyone pointed a heavy television camera at him, fans knew his name, journalists queued at his school gates, and purists travelled across state lines just to watch a child bat.

Today, seeing is the absolute prerequisite for believing. We demand visual proof in milliseconds. But in the mid-1980s, India had no glowing glass rectangles. You couldn’t stream Azad Maidan or track a schoolboy’s strike rate on an app.

Instead, a simple four-word sentence travelled across the country like high-grade espionage: “There is a boy.”

It was murmured on the parched maidans of Bombay, debated over gin and tonics at the Cricket Club of India, and typed out in smoky newsrooms. Without a single fibre-optic cable, the story travelled. An entire nation had to assemble Sachin Tendulkar in their minds, constructing a prodigy out of cold newspaper typography, crackling radio commentary, and the sheer weight of word of mouth.

If you were born too late to breathe that era in, or if the digital noise has made you forget, let us take you back. This is how Indian cricket fell completely, hopelessly in love with a myth built on whispers instead of wireless data.

THE CRADLE OF CREDIBILITY

Ask four journalists from different parts of the country when they first heard the name Sachin Tendulkar and a remarkable pattern emerges. None of them begin with Pakistan. None of them begin with Tom Alter. None of them begin with Abdul Qadir. They begin with Bombay.

Rajdeep Sardesai’s memory takes him back to the Cricket Club of India. He had not yet become one of India’s best-known television journalists. He was a young cricketer, son of a legendary cricketer, spending time around a club that had become one of Bombay cricket’s meeting points.

“Well, I first heard of Sachin Tendulkar when he was about 13 or 14, playing school cricket,” Sardesai recalls.

“A friend at the Cricket Club of India mentioned that he had seen what he felt was the next big thing in Indian cricket.”

Notice the certainty. Not a promising youngster. Not a talented schoolboy. The next big thing.

The excitement spread quickly through Bombay’s cricket circles. Sardesai remembers signing a petition at the Cricket Club of India requesting that the rules be relaxed so Sachin, despite his age, could become a playing member.

“At the age of 13 or 14, he was already seen as the next big thing,” he says.

^{“I think this was around the time, or soon after, he was scoring all those hundreds, or shambars as we call them in Mumbai cricket, for Sharadashram Vidyamandir.”}

Pause there for a moment and consider the audacity of that reputation. Sachin had not played first-class cricket. He had not represented India. Most people outside Bombay had never watched him bat. Yet conversations around him had become serious enough for one of India’s most prestigious, starch-collared cricket clubs to consider changing its own rules for a child who should have been at home doing his homework. That tells you something about the teenager. It tells you even more about Bombay.

The temptation today is to assume Sachin remained a provincial Bombay secret until Pakistan. He didn’t.

That is where the recollection of senior cricket journalist R. Kaushik becomes so valuable. Long before he went on to cover more than a 100 Test matches, Kaushik was just a student in Coimbatore. He had no afternoons at Azad Maidan, no conversations at the CCI, and no chance of watching Sharadashram Vidyamandir. Yet Sachin’s reputation had already arrived on his doorstep without the help of a single fibre-optic cable.

“Growing up, he was always a phenomenon,” Kaushik says.

“When he was 13 or 14, he and Vinod Kambli had that big partnership in school cricket. Once that happened, and also unlike now, Bombay was pretty much the cradle of Indian cricket. The Bombay cricket pundits and the Bombay media built up their players tremendously. You had no option but to hear about Tendulkar.”

The wording is revealing: You had no option but to hear about Tendulkar. Not because somebody was aggressively promoting him, but because Bombay cricket carried extraordinary, institutional credibility.

“So even though I was studying in Coimbatore,” Kaushik continues, “everybody knew who Tendulkar was long before he made his India debut.”

When asked whether that awareness was limited to hardcore cricket followers, he shakes his head.

“No, not at all. Anybody with even a basic interest in cricket knew who he was. You didn’t have to be obsessed with cricket.”

Pakistan, then, wasn’t India’s introduction to Sachin Tendulkar. It was merely television’s.

THE VIRAL ANALOGUE NETWORK

If Kaushik establishes that the stories travelled, Vikrant Gupta explains how.

“There was no social media. There were no news channels. Nothing,” he says.

“But you had newspapers, and in those days word of mouth travelled. Whatever came out of Bombay, the entire country came to know about it.”

For anyone raised entirely on algorithms, that sounds almost impossible. How could stories about one schoolboy go viral across India without a single clip on your timeline? The answer lies in an India that consumes cricket very differently.

“Today’s fan watches; the fan of the late 1980s read. They devoured publications voraciously: Sportstar, Sportsweek, Cricket Samrat. Newspapers carried full Ranji Trophy scoreboards. County Championship reports found space every morning. Radio commentary drifted out of paan shops, tea stalls, and rickshaws,” Vikrant says.

“We probably knew more about domestic cricket then than people know today.

“If you sat in a rickshaw, commentary would be playing. You walked through a market and a shop would have commentary on with people gathered outside.”

Cricket moved differently. It lingered. A remarkable innings became tomorrow morning’s headline, then an afternoon conversation, then a recommendation passed from one former cricketer to another. Bombay wasn’t merely producing players; it was producing reputations. And no reputation travelled faster than Sachin Tendulkar’s.

The whispers needed proof. They got it one summer afternoon in 1988.

Today, you and I remember the Harris Shield partnership between Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli as a cold, static number. Mention “664” to anyone who follows Indian cricket, and they know exactly what it refers to. But the number has completely overshadowed the cultural story.

The partnership did far more than create a record. It turned Bombay’s whispers into India’s conversation.

Two teenagers from Sharadashram Vidyamandir batted through an entire day against St Xavier’s in the Harris Shield. Wickets simply stopped falling. Bowlers disappeared into exhaustion. By the time stumps were drawn, Tendulkar was unbeaten on 326 and Kambli on 349. Together they had put on 664 runs, a partnership that became the stuff of cricketing folklore.

If that happened today, every boundary from that innings would have found its way onto social media within minutes. Back then, every run became an oral history. The newspapers did the rest. For Kaushik, sitting hundreds of kilometres away in Chennai, that innings became impossible to ignore.

“Once that happened, everybody started talking about him,” he recalls.

The Harris Shield didn’t introduce Sachin to Bombay; it introduced Bombay’s Sachin to the rest of India.

THE PIED PIPER OF THE MAIDANS

Rajdeep Sardesai remembers just how inevitable Tendulkar’s rise already felt by then.

“Well, Sachin Tendulkar was a schoolboy sensation, and certainly everyone who followed cricket in Mumbai, which is the home of cricket, knew about Sachin Tendulkar. There was this schoolboy prodigy who was poised for great things.”

He believes that was the first stage of Sachin’s rise.

“I think Sachin Tendulkar was first a Mumbai cricket star because he became such a prolific scorer in Mumbai school cricket. The rest of the country came to know of him when he made his first-class Ranji debut and then, of course, he was picked for India at the age of 16.”

That distinction matters. Sachin did not become famous overnight. He graduated from a neighbourhood sensation to a city phenomenon, and finally to a national curiosity. Every single step happened before Pakistan.

Vikrant Gupta believes Bombay itself was the catalyst.

“Bombay was pretty much the centre of Indian cricket,” he says.

“The former players, selectors, journalists, everybody was there.”

He paints a picture that feels almost impossible to recreate today. The day’s cricket would end, but the conversations wouldn’t. Former India cricketers gathered at the Wankhede or the Cricket Club of India over tea. Coaches discussed promising youngsters, journalists swapped notes, and administrators listened. If one respected voice endorsed a teenager, the story travelled quickly through cricket’s tightly knit circles.

This was Indian cricket’s information network before the internet. It wasn’t driven by algorithms; it was driven entirely by credibility. If Bombay’s cricket fraternity said there was a prodigy worth watching, people listened.

No one understood that ecosystem better than the players growing up within it.

Naz remembers another vignette, perhaps even more revealing of the era. The day after scoring a century on his Ranji Trophy debut for Bombay, Sachin did not spend the next morning celebrating. He went back to school to play for Sharadashram in a school match. The crowd, however, was no longer a school crowd.

“I heard this from Amol Muzumdar, Sairaj Bahutule and others who were there,” Naz says.

“The whole ground was packed. He hadn’t even played for India yet, but people just came to watch Sachin.”

Think about that image. A school match, no television coverage, no social media promotion, and no broadcaster
asking fans to turn up. Just pure word of mouth. Naz smiles when he recalls the phrase Amol Muzumdar once used for the teenager.

“He was the Pied Piper of cricket.”

Wherever Sachin went, people followed. Not because they had watched him on a screen, but because they had heard enough to believe they were about to witness someone extraordinary.

THE NEW DAWN

By the time Sachin made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bombay against Gujarat in December 1988, the anticipation had become impossible to escape. Rajdeep Sardesai had joined The Times of India as a young reporter barely a month earlier. He desperately wanted to watch the teenager everyone had been talking about
.
“The Times of India office wasn’t too far from the Wankhede,” he recalls.

“I requested my editor to give me the afternoon off. He reluctantly agreed.”

It wasn’t an assignment; it was pure curiosity. For nearly three years, Bombay had insisted there was a once-in-a-generation cricketer growing up in its maidans. Sardesai simply wanted to know if the city had exaggerated. It hadn’t. Sachin scored a century on debut. Sardesai rushed back to the newsroom convinced he had seen something remarkable.

“I came back to the office and told Darryl D’Monte, my editor, that I’d seen a new dawn in Indian cricket. I asked if I could write about it.”

The piece became Sardesai’s first front-page byline.

“I may not have got many of my political predictions right,” he says with a laugh, “but I certainly got that cricket prediction right. Sachin Tendulkar was going to be very, very special.”

Perhaps that is the most remarkable part of the story. The Ranji hundred did not create the hype; it justified everything Bombay had been saying for years. By then, the sentence had travelled almost everywhere. There is a boy. The rest of India was finally beginning to believe it.

The stories, however, still needed one final examination. No school tournament, no Ranji Trophy match, and no glowing recommendation from Bombay’s cricket establishment could answer the question everyone was really asking. Could a 16-year-old survive international cricket?

In November 1989, India finally found out. The tour to Pakistan has since become one of the most replayed chapters in Indian cricket history. Every generation has watched the same archive footage: the teenager adjusting his floppy hat, the Tom Alter interview, Waqar Younis striking him on the face in Sialkot, the blood trickling down his nose, and the over against Abdul Qadir in the Peshawar exhibition game.

For millions of younger fans, those moments are where the Sachin story begins. Rajdeep Sardesai remembers watching them unfold in real time.

“I think most of the country saw Sachin Tendulkar play for the first time on TV when India went to Pakistan in 1989,” he says. “That’s when we saw him on black-and-white television playing the likes of Imran Khan, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram.”

He pauses when he reaches the image almost everyone remembers.

“I remember when he was hit on the head. Most people thought, ‘What’s going to happen to this 16-year-old?’ Guess what? He got up and went on to play a great innings.”

Then came Peshawar. The exhibition match. Abdul Qadir. The teenager dancing down the wicket against one of the world’s finest leg-spinners.

TWO DIFFERENT ERAS

It is impossible to disagree, but perhaps arrival isn’t quite the right word. Pakistan introduced Sachin Tendulkar to television audiences; it did not introduce Sachin Tendulkar to India. That had happened much earlier.

It is a tale of two entirely different civilisations.

Vaibhav belongs to an era of instant gratification, where every boundary is clipped for a vertical feed and every milestone becomes a push notification. Sachin belonged to an analogue India that traded in patience: a country that had to construct its heroes entirely in the mind, building a prodigy out of cold newspaper typography, crackling radio commentary, and pure, unadulterated word of mouth.

When a 16-year-old Tendulkar finally walked out to bat in Karachi in November 1989, India wasn’t meeting a stranger. It was finally putting a face to a myth. And perhaps that is the most extraordinary part of his rise: the rumour had already conquered a nation, but the boy still managed to exceed it.

All because of four whispered words that changed Indian cricket forever:

“There is a boy.”

– Ends

Ind A vs SL A: India A will resume in a strong position at 333/4 on the second day of the first unofficial Test against Sri Lanka A at the Galle International Stadium. After dominating the opening day with the help of Sai Sudarshan’s brilliant century, the visiting team will try to make a big score in the first innings and strengthen their hold on the match.

day 1 recap

India A ended the first day at 333/4 in 86 overs, with Sai Sudarshan laying the foundation for an impressive score with a brilliant century. After the top order did its job, captain Dhruv Jurel (57)* and Sheikh Rashid (48)* frustrated the hosts with an unbeaten 98-run partnership that ensured India A finished the day on a strong note.

For Sri Lanka A, left-arm spinner Dilam Sudira got the first breakthrough by dismissing opener Ayush Pandey (25) but the hosts struggled to get going as India’s middle order batted with discipline and composure.

day 2 outlook

India A will aim to take advantage of their strong position by taking the Jurel-Rashid partnership past 100 runs in the morning session. With plenty of batting still left, the visitors will be eyeing a score of over 500 in the first innings before ramping up their bowling attack.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka A is in dire need of early wickets to prevent India A from scoring huge scores. The first hour with the relatively new ball could prove crucial if the hosts are to make a comeback in the contest.

pitch report

It is expected that the surface at the Galle International Stadium will be favorable for batting during the opening session of the second day, which will provide good pace and carry. However, as the match progresses and the footprints become more pronounced, the pitch is likely to assist the spinners with more turn and variable bounce, making batting progressively more challenging later in the game.

Sri Lanka A (Playing XI)

Pavantha Weerasinghe, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Nuwanidu Fernando, Ashen Bandara, Sahan Arachige (c), Ravindu Fernando, Anjala Bandara, Kavindu Pathiratne, Dulaj Samuditha, Chamika Gunasekara, Dilum Sudira.

India A (Playing XI)

Sai Sudarshan, Ayush Pandey, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper/captain), Sheikh Rashid, Harsh Dubey, Saransh Jain, Anshul Kamboj, Yash Thakur, Auqib Nabi Dar.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has officially become the most-attended tournament in history, surpassing the record held when the United States last hosted the competition in 1994. However, the milestone comes amid growing criticism over rising ticket prices, visa restrictions and organizational issues that have plagued parts of the tournament.

FIFA confirmed the new record during this period Germany’s Group E clash with Ecuador at MetLife Stadium, Where after the first 56 matches the attendance crossed 3,605,357. This beat the previous figure of 3.587 million viewers set in USA 1994.

FIFA World Cup 2026: Update

While the tournament has grown from 52 matches in 1994 to 104 this year, the appetite for football has remained constant. Stadiums are on average more than 99 percent full, and with 48 matches still to be played, the final attendance figure is expected to exceed four million.

For weeks, the World Cup has been subject to criticism away from the pitch, yet the atmosphere inside the stadium rarely reflects that negativity. Despite the noise outside the grounds, fans have continued to pack venues and turn every major event into a spectacle.

The historic feat was achieved in front of a crowd of more than 80,000 in New Jersey as Ecuador stunned Germany to reach the knockout stages. Earlier in the tournament, on 16 June, a one-day attendance record was also set with over 281,000 fans attending four matches across the three host nations.

but questions remain

The record attendance has done little to assuage concerns surrounding the tournament.

FIFA’s dynamic pricing model sent ticket prices for many high-profile matches skyrocketing into the thousands of dollars, leaving many traditional supporters priced out. At the same time, strict US visa policies and travel restrictions reportedly affected fans from many countries, particularly Africa and the Middle East, who struggled to obtain permission to attend.

Rising hotel prices discouraged tourists from extending their stay, causing many host cities to fall short of the expected boom in tourism.

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Vaibhav Suryavanshi may be on the verge of becoming India’s youngest international cricketer, but batting coach Sitanshu Kotak made it clear that the teenager should not get his chance at the expense of a player who is already performing well.India begin their two-match T20I series against Ireland on Friday and if Suryavanshi is selected in the playing XI, the 15-year-old will become the youngest player to represent India. The team management led by captain Shreyas Iyer and head coach Gautam Gambhir faces a selection call before the opener. One option could be to bring Suryavanshi into the team in place of Abhishek Sharma and open with Sanju Samson or vice versa.Speaking on the eve of the match, Kotak praised Kishore’s ability but said that team selection should also be fair to players who are already scoring runs.“Vaibhav is very talented, there is no doubt about that. And the way he has batted in the IPL and all the other games, needless to say he has a lot of natural abilities. Because in the IPL he has faced Joffra, a lot of fast bowlers, a lot of experienced bowlers. And it seems like nothing is troubling him. So he is clearly an extraordinary talent,” Kotak was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.“This evening, the captain and the head coach will decide about the team. And if he plays well, even if he doesn’t play for me, it is great because he is part of the Indian team. And I am sure he will get his dues and his chances. So I don’t think just to give him a chance, we should drop someone who is already scoring runs.“That also wouldn’t be right. I think there’s a very thin line between trying to give someone a chance and you being unfair to another player,” Kotak said.Kotak said that the depth of talent in Indian cricket has made selection increasingly difficult and admitted that the job of selectors is also difficult.“If you ask me, there is so much talent in India that even the selectors have a headache. To be honest, I don’t have that big a headache because I am not the head coach and captain. But sometimes it’s hard.”“But one thing we also have to remember is that the guys who are already performing should never be ignored, I believe. The guys who are already scoring, winning games for the team.” bcciWhen Kotak was asked how difficult it was to keep players out of the World Cup-winning team, he said, “The structure is such that players will keep coming.”

Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann has hinted that Antonio Rudiger is in line for more minutes against Ecuador after impressing from the bench in the win over Ivory Coast. With Nico Schlotterbach ruled out of the tournament through injury, Rudiger is expected to play a bigger role as Germany look to finish the group stage with a perfect record. Nagelsmann also indicated that there would be only minor changes to his starting XI, while supersub Dennis Undav said he was happy to continue making an impact from the bench if needed.

Pakistan batsman Gul Firozha has been issued an official reprimand and given one demerit point after being found guilty of a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 Group A match against Australia on Tuesday.Firozha was found to have breached Article 2.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to the misuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match.The incident occurred in the second over of Pakistan’s innings when Firozha, who was visibly disappointed at her dismissal, aggressively threw her bat and gloves in the direction of the team’s dugout.Since this was his first offense within a 24-month period, one demerit point was added to his disciplinary record. Firozha pleaded guilty and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Michel Pereira of the Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Referees, avoiding the need for a formal hearing.This allegation was made by on-field umpires Sue Redfern and Vrinda Rathi, third umpire Jacqueline Williams and fourth umpire Shathira Zakir JC. Under ICC rules, Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a fine of up to 50 per cent of a player’s match fee along with demerit points.

Pakistan’s frustration has increased due to heavy defeat

The disciplinary setback came during a tough encounter for Pakistan, who suffered a heavy 113-run defeat to Australia, leaving them without a win in the tournament after four matches.Pakistan captain Fatima Sana admitted that her team had one of its worst performances in the competition and urged her team to reflect honestly ahead of their final group game against the Netherlands.“I think we played our worst cricket in this game and as a whole team we need to accept that. We need to go back, reflect and improve ourselves,” Sana said after the match.Despite the result, Sana highlighted some positives from the bowling unit, particularly the efforts of Nashra Sandhu and Sadia Iqbal, who took two wickets each while keeping Australia’s batting in check for a while.“I think our bowling was very good, especially the way we started. Nashra and Saadia bowled really well… we need more players to support them,” he said.With Pakistan already out of the competition, their final Group A match against the Netherlands now becomes an opportunity to restore glory and end the disappointing campaign on a positive note.

981 and 686.

The first reflects the number of days it took for Neymar Jr. to return to international football with Brazil. The second shows the number of days Lewis Hamilton endured without a Formula One win before ending his drought.

Different sports, different journeys, but united by a familiar theme – resilience in the face of setbacks.

Soon after returning in Brazil colors at the FIFA World Cup 2026, Neymar Shared a picture of himself from the match against Scotland on social media with a simple caption: “Remember who you are”. This was the same phrase Hamilton posted after ending his winning streak and claiming victory at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

It seems champions speak the same language.

For most of the last decade, Neymar was expected to inherit the football throne from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Instead, his career was defined by recurring injuries that repeatedly hampered his momentum in key moments.

Every time he looked ready to take center stage again, he was followed by another blow.

Ultimately injuries changed the direction of his career. They took him away from European football to Saudi Arabia and later back to Brazil. Over the past three years, Neymar has missed more than 100 matches in club and international football, with major tournaments and decisive moments left on the sidelines for long periods of time.

That’s why his appearance against Scotland on 24 June, The importance of Wednesday goes beyond the result.

comeback against scotland FIFA World Cup 2026

After 981 days away from the Seleção, Neymar finally returned to the national team and Brazil secured a comfortable 3–0 victory to qualify for the knockout stage of the ongoing World Cup.

It was a comeback that wasn’t guaranteed just a short time ago.

The returns also came amidst fresh investigation. A few days earlier, the Brazilian president had mocked the forward by questioning his prolonged absence due to injury concerns, describing him as a “footballer who works from home”.

Neymar’s reaction was particularly understated.

Instead of engaging in a war of words, he let his work behind the scenes take center stage. The boots were back on, the yellow shirt was back on his shoulders, and after almost three years away, Neymar was once again representing Brazil on the international stage.

It remains to be seen whether this is the beginning of a final chapter or the beginning of a continued revival. But for now, Neymar is adopting the same message that helped motivate Hamilton during the toughest period of his career:

remember who you are.

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Silencing the raucous home crowd in East China, India’s women’s 4x100m relay team delivered a tactical masterclass to clinch a spectacular gold medal on the final day of the Asian Relay Championships 2026 on Sunday.

The Indian quartet, comprising SS Sneha, Sudeshna Shivankar, Tamannaah and veteran anchor Sarbani Nanda, produced a technically impeccable performance to clock a blistering, season’s best timing of 43.85 seconds. The effort was enough to overtake regional giants China, which won silver in 44.09 seconds, and Thailand, which took bronze in a frantic photo finish in 44.11 seconds.

Coached by Reliance Foundation’s Martin Owens, the Indian squad executed their race plan to perfection. In a discipline where raw pace can easily be undone by poor baton management, it was accuracy inside the exchange zone that ultimately made the difference against the heavily favored Chinese team.

The video of the Indian quartet winning the gold medal in Shaoxing has since gone viral on social media.

The gold medal wins capped a very exciting weekend for both Tamannaah and Sneha Shanuvalli, who walked away with two medals each. Earlier in the meet, the pair, along with men’s 200m national record holders Animesh Kujur and Pranav Gurav, had won a bronze medal in the mixed 4x100m relay with a timing of 41.27 seconds.

India completed its three medal tally at the championships with a silver in the mixed 4x400m relay courtesy of Teerthesh P Shetty, MR Poovamma, Barath Sridhar and Neeru Pathak who ran 3:17.06. While individual talent highlighted the shorter sprints, the longer 4×400 meters relay proved tough. The Indian women’s 4x400m team finished just outside the podium places in fourth place (3:34.88), while the men’s team finished fifth with a timing of 3:05.33, as a dominant Vietnam team won gold medals in both categories.

‘Asian Games are the target’

With the athletics calendar building for the Asian Games in Japan later this year, the 4x100m gold serves as an important psychological blueprint.

For 35-year-old Nanda, whose international career spans more than two decades The victory is a testament to continuity and clean competition.

Strengthening her anti-doping stance, Nanda told PTI on Wednesday, “I would definitely say that staying clean is very important and it gives a lot of confidence. And you can focus on your competition.”

“We have to change the mentality of ‘we can’t do anything without drugs’ to ‘we can do without drugs’.”

Nanda admits that the punishing training regime has pushed her to the brink of despair, yet the ultimate goal is a career-defining podium finish in Japan.

“The main target this season is the Asian Games and I am hoping for the best,” she said.

With Chandigarh officially announced to host the next edition of the championships in 2027, India’s sprinters have ensured that they return home with the ultimate continental bragging rights.

– ends