Virat Kohli opened up about his thoughts on how India is marching on the right track to becoming a sporting powerhouse. He reckons that the infrastructural facilities are already on the right track, and it is everyone’s collective responsibility to ensure that it becomes a reality in the near future. Kohli spoke at the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit, where he mentioned that India would become a Sport-Forward Nation by 2036 and called for education around the sport rather than the celebration and hype around the athletes. “We are working towards India becoming a Sport-Forward Nation by 2036. As I said, we have the vision, we have the groundwork happening today. I think it’s the collective responsibility of everyone who gets involved. Not just the infrastructure, not just the people who are going to infuse the money, not just the athletes, but people who want to be educated about the sport,” he shared. “We don’t need the celebration and fanaticism; we need the education of the sport. The education around the sport, for us a country, is also very important. Once the education around sport takes place, the experience will be 10 times what it is today and that will be a big step towards us being a Sports-Forward Nation,” he added. He also emphasised the need to educate the general public regarding other sports. India is already leading as the biggest cricket nation in terms of viewership and revenue, but Kohli wants fans to learn more about other sports as well. “It is important to have conversations around sports. What are the rules? What do the athletes go through? It has to be a progressive project which helps all sports. It has to be a collective sports culture that includes everyone. And women’s sport is a massive part of it. And we have so much talent in the women’s sports, not just cricket, but all the other sports here,” he added. Kohli will shift his focus on the Indian Premier League as he hopes to help the Royal Challengers Bengaluru on their quest for their first IPL title. They begin their campaign with an away game against the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders on March 22 (Saturday).