Sports | World champs
Indian sport moved faster, reached higher and grew stronger—breaking free of cricket's shadow and carrying its momentum toward bigger arenas
(Photo: Bandeep Singh)
ISSUE DATE: Jan 12, 2026 | UPDATED: Jan 3, 2026 19:05 IST
For a nation long hypnotised by the crack of willow on leather, the last decade sounded a different note. The first stirrings came in Rio 2016, where a young P.V. Sindhu smashed her way to Olympic silver, then returned from Tokyo (2021) with bronze and a world title in between (2019).