What connects Neeraj Chopra and Rishabh Pant?

The Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra and the miraculous cricketer Rishabh Pant represent a young India that is full of hope and promise. They want to soar to the greatest heights in the sky. Both belong to the reborn India that knows how to give a tough competition to the players of their opposing team.

Since childhood, Rishabh has studied on 100 per cent scholarship from the Indian Public School, Dehradun established by me and he has dreamed of becoming a Test cricketer during his childhood schooling. Neeraj Chopra, who won the gold medal in the javelin throw event of the Tokyo Olympic Games last year, is quite sure that he will cover 90-metre mark in javelin throw by the end of this year. His practice continues to improve day by day.

On the other hand, Rishabh Pant, who was born in Roorkee as a poor primary teacher's son and studied at the Indian Public School in Dehradun on scholarship , scored his 5th Test century on the very first day of the ongoing India-England series. He thrashed the bowlers of the host team fiercely. He continued to bat as fearlessly as ever. That has been his style since the nascent stages of his career. Many seasoned cricket critics explain to him various tactics and techniques from time to time. But, Pant has engineered and mastered his own style.

He plays with his heart, not with his mind. He can hit sixes off even the best of the biggest bowlers. It is his self-confidence that he has developed by drinking the pure milk of indigenous cows and early morning practices at Dhyan Chand Ground of his Dehradun School.

Actually, Neeraj Chopra and Pant both are rooted to small semi rural towns of growing India. Neeraj Chopra comes from a simple village in Rohtak, Haryana. There is not even a playground in that village. He got the opportunity to move forward when he travelled beyond his village. He was given all possible help by the government and the private sector. On the other hand, Pant is from Roorkee and a product of under-13 SP. Sinha came to Dehradun school campus to participate in the tournament and was kept here by the school with a scholarship.

After schooling, he started spending nights in temples and Gurudwara to play in Delhi. See that if India is slowly making its place on the playing field, then some credit must be given to the private sector as well. Neeraj Chopra and Pant prove that talent is not a slave to big cities. The youth of small towns and cities also have indomitable willpower to move forward. If given the opportunity, he can do the world in his fist. Neeraj Chopra's claim of throwing the javelin throw up to a distance of 90 meters needs to be seen in the right perspective. 90 meters is considered an important standard in javelin throw, and the number of players who consistently throw javelins for this distance is very few in the world. It is said that if you have dream you many fulfill dream, Your dream if you have conviction and dedication with your hard work. Yes, you must work hard to achieve that goal. Neeraj Chopra and Rishabh Pant starts making dreams come true only after dreaming them.

Pant has basically emerged as a Big Match player. Bolt, Diego Maradona, Pele, Lara, Rahul Dravid, and Sachin Tendulkar have been so far known as the Big Match Players. They are covered in those matches which are special in their own right. Such matches can also be the final of a championship.

Pant proved time and again that he is a Big Match player. Maradona was a fantastic big match player. He used to dominate big and important matches. Back then his flair was visible. This is the biggest quality of a big match player that he is covered in the whole match even in special matches or adverse situations. Maradona could not display his talent against small and weak teams.

If we talk about Neeraj Chopra again, then after seeing all his body language, it is understood that he is not a part of the crowd. Just recall when he took the javelin in the final of his event in Tokyo, his facial expressions could be read. It was clear that he would definitely put some medals in the country's bag. But he had made the country proudest by winning us the gold.

Athletics is considered the mother of all sports. Before this, there has never been any spectacular success in the Olympic Games champions on India's part. We used to rejoice to remember the fine performances of Milkha Singh, PT Usha, GS Randhawa, and Shri Ram Singh in the Olympic Games.

But India still needs hundreds of such confident players like Neeraj Chopra and Pant. This is just the beginning. This cycle should continue to thrive. The development of any country is proved by what kind of achievements are being made there in the world of sports. The recent historical creation of India's men's badminton team should not go in front of the achievements of Neeraj Chopra and Rishabh Pant. You are aware that India achieved this feat by defeating 14-time champions Indonesia by a margin of 3-0 in the final of the Thomas Cup.

Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, Satwik Sairaj, and Chirag Shetty helped India win the Thomas Cup. It is considered to be the world championship of badminton. India's badminton sensation Lakshya Sen reached the final of the All England Open Badminton Championship before winning the Thomas Cup. And finally, the talk of Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen.

She became world champion sometime back by defeating Jitpong Jutamas of Thailand 5-0 in the one-sided final of the flyweight (52kg) category of the Women's World Championships in Istanbul. Telangana boxer Zareen dominated her rivals throughout the tournament and defeated the Thailand player in the final by a unanimous decision. With this win, 2019 Asian Championships bronze medallist Zareen became just the fifth Indian female boxer to become a world champion. Six-time champions MC Mary Kom (2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2018), Sarita Devi (2006), Jenny RL (2006), and Lekha KC have previously won world titles.

The point is that Indian players are making India proud in many singles and team sports. They have finally started relishing the taste of victory. Now no one can stop them.

(The writer is a senior editor, columnist, and former MP)