Sunil Gavaskar: 2021 among most memorable years for Indian sports

Sunil Gavaskar said 2021 was a great year for Indian sport, given that it was the year we won our biggest haul of Olympic medals yet and saw stellar performances from our Paralympians as well as our cricketers.

Remember Paul the Octopus?

During the 2010 Fifa World Cup, the tentacled pundit gained worldwide fame following its accurate predictions of matches.

But even a seer with Paul’s gifts would have struggled to forecast that in 2021, India would beat Australia in Australia in cricket, and an Indian will win Olympic gold in a track and field event.

That’s how special 2021 was for Indian sport. The heroics of Rishabh Pant and Co brought us a historic victory in Australia. And then Neeraj Chopra came along and hurled the javelin 87.58 m to win the gold at the Tokyo Olympics.

India finished with seven medals at the Olympics, its best ever performance at the Games.

Understandably, Sunil Gavaskar, former Indian cricket captain and an avid follower of most games, feels 2021 was one of the most memorable years for Indian sports. Gavaskar said this in the context of the forthcoming Sportstar Aces Awards, where he is chairman of the jury.

"It's probably been one of the most memorable years for Indian sport,” said Gavaskar. “Starting with the Indian cricket team's fantastic win in Brisbane and then in England. Yes, there was the disappointment of not winning the World Test Championship and the T20 World Cup, but overall, the cricketing performance was very good. Then, at the Olympics, the performances of our athletes just blew us all away. India held its head high when Neeraj Chopra won the gold. When Mirabai Chanu lifted silver, we felt that we had all lifted the entire world on our shoulders. And then came the performances from our Paralympians which was also terrific."

One of six jury members for the awards, Gavaskar shared insights about the factors that are taken into consideration to assess nominees across various categories.

"I've always emphasised the temperament aspect,” he said. “While it is difficult to assess what temperament is in sports other than cricket for me, that's where other members of the jury come in very useful, and they talk about their experience. So, you look at the achievements, you look at the competition level, you sometimes look at the venue. You look at countries where there could be a situation where the athlete might not get the kind of diet that he/she actually wants. So, all those things come into consideration, and therefore it is challenging. But it is something that makes it more interesting."

The first man to get 10,000 Test runs and 34 Test centuries, Gavaskar said encouraging performances such as those seen in 2021, and even failures, can serve as a springboard for future success.

“Sometimes there is much more to learn from a failure than from success,” he said. “The mindset of the Indian athletes now is not just to participate but to win. Since some of them have not had the best of Olympics, hopefully, they would have learnt from it, they would have learnt about the pressure and will be able to cope better the next time around. It won’t be a surprise if India wins even more medals in Paris 2024.”