Alright cricket is happening but spare a thought for Hima Das who’s done India proud

If you were to understand the sheer love and fanatical following of cricket in India, you would be wise enough to stare at Dubai’s Burj Khalifa’s structure. The imposing and dauntless build of the famous Dubai snapshot is the fame that Cricket enjoys in India. If you were to, however, understand the reverence and following of other sporting endeavours such as athletics, you could look at a paper boat under torrential rains.

It’s that dainty and light-weight. It all seems unfair and unkind and you know what- it bloody is. Why on earth are the other sports in India not extended the regard that cricket alone enjoys is a mystery that’s sudden like MH 370 (in all due respect)?

With that as background, at this point in time, if you were to rush to a Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma or Rahane fan and tell them that a certain Hima Das had scripted a rare piece of history for India- then you’d only be responded back with a clueless look. In fact, it doesn’t really have to be stated that none would even seem interested to know.

But in brutal honesty, you’ve got to know about Hima Das, the youngster who has scripted history for India, like few others have. A few hours before India happened to beat England comprehensively by a huge margin of 8 wickets in the First ODI, another Indian, albeit hardly known was making the country proud in another part of the world- where the Junior World Athletics were taking place.

By becoming the first-ever Indian athlete to clinch a gold in the World Junior Athletics, Hima Das has etched her name in gold and not just that, entered a rare league where no other Indian has previously stepped a foot.

This young, avid athlete of dauntless courage clocked in a memorable top-spot in the 400-meter event and that too, dramatically on the final race of the third day of the World Junior Athletics meet.

The IAAF World Under-20 athletics has never previously awarded a single gold to an Indian before. Now, very simply, if that is not enough to make India’s sporting-hungry audiences stand up in appreciation- then what might ever suffice?

The 18-year-old Hima Das, news reports suggest was already a pre-tournament favourite to win something beautiful and big and no wonder when the moment of reckoning came, she raised the bar of the competition in the challenging 400-meter event.

Clocking a speedy 51.46 seconds to win a rare junior gold, Hima Das stunned everyone and other competitive athletes from all around the world. Although, another gold has been earned but not in athletics and around 2 years back when the IAAF World Under-20 was last held.

Here’s what one’s got to know:

India’s Hima Das now joins the illustrious company of star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who won a gold in Poland in the last edition in 2016 in a world record effort.

Hima Das’ feat is special not only for the sheer trace of speed demonstrating which she earned a grand feat, rather also for being the only one to have grabbed a prestigious gold on a track field event, thus becoming the only track athlete with the rare distinction.

The quarter-mile event, in which Hima Das excelled against formidable competition, can often be a challenging run, requiring the rigour and strong reflexes for success. And truth be told, where her recent form runs, she’s been an outstandingly consistent athlete.

Here’s some numbers that pay homage to her bright talent: Recently, Hima Das clocked an Indian U-20 record of 51.32 seconds. In so doing, she finished sixth in the Commonwealth Games 400m final in Gold Coast during April. Since then, she has gone onto improving her timings.