How can anyone in a nation starved for genuine sporting heroes and success on the biggest stages know a man who, at 25, has won everything there is on offer? Who has single-handedly changed the perception of Indians not being good enough in the most global of sports?
Last year, after silver at the 2022 edition of the World Championships, he was asked what was left and he had mentioned ‘gold at the worlds, maybe’. On Sunday night – early hours of Monday in India with the time difference – a nation stayed awake to watch him tick that one remaining box and was rewarded with the familiar roar, the raised finger to signal the big prize was his and the genial smile.
He also took an uncharacteristic, ever-so-slight look back to confirm what his mind already knew; he admitted during a special media interaction that continued into the first morning light back home that he was cautious of the adductor strain that had kept him out of action earlier; he mentioned pressure in the context of the massively hyped contest with Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem.
