In 2022, he raced past Usain Bolt, 'the world's fastest man', to become the world's most written-about athlete. The attention has followed a stream of medals: Asian Games gold twice, an Olympic gold, and silver and gold at the World Athletics Championships.

Smriti Mandhana isn't actually known to be the most prolific T20 player -- her career T20 International average of 27.32 is middling at best. There have been failures too, but her ability to analyse and assess them honestly is a rarity in modern sport.

Indians will forever remember Akram as the scary phenomenon with the soft smile, the man who rattled through the Indian batting order, but was rarely as hated as Waqar or Shoaib Akhtar, observes Vaibhav Raghunandan.

The view is that the attention on the national team is fleeting, incidental and dependent on the results they produce.

'Instead of making this a four-year phenomenon, when you look at us and get thrilled, do it more regularly.'

For women's hockey in the country, this result may well turn out to be a watershed moment.

'If we want to ensure this isn't a once-in-four-decade phenomenon, then we have to produce 1,800 players all the time, create infrastructure, so that we are constantly challenging at the top of the ladder.'

'Everyone wants to get involved when there is success.' 'But what about guaranteeing it?' 'Making sure girls have the opportunity to succeed all the time?'

Olympic Silver medalist Mirabai Chani's feat is a story of grit, dedication and desire, but it isn't unique. In Manipur, discovers Vaibhav Raghunandan.