Virat Kohli has become iconic for his efforts to inculcate a sporting culture in India. Recently, he had paired with the GD Goenka group to organize the Indian sports honours which garnered a lot of attention.
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At that time, Kohli had said that he wanted not only to promote cricket but all other games. His goal is to inculcate the sporting culture back in the country in a bid to give back to the nation and the sporting fraternity.
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In more recent news, the Indian Captain commissioned a research in association with PUMA India and the results are not particularly pleasing.
The research shows that 1/3rd of India hasn’t done any physical activity even once in the last one year. This is extremely saddening, given the audience that sports – read cricket – garners in the country.
The commissioned study that Virat Kohli and sportswear brand PUMA commissioned throughout India gave some disappointing results. Market research agency Kantar IMRB conducted a research to understand the current state of physical activity and sports adoption in India. Additionally, the study notes the barriers of playing sport regularly.
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Following are the major findings:
1/3rd of the total population surveyed had not done any physical activity even once in the last 1 year!*
Physical activity included any physical activity at home/outdoors/gyms/fitness centers such as Running/Walking/Zumba/Yoga/Swimming etc. as well as playing sports such as Cricket, Football, Badminton, Tennis, Table Tennis, Basketball, Volleyball, Hockey, Squash or any local games such as the likes of Kabaddi, Kho-Kho.
57% of the respondents have not played any sport for the last one year!*
3/4th of this group last played a sport only in school or college
While 70% of the respondents between 18-21 years had played a sport at least once in the last 1 year, this figure dropped drastically as individuals progressed in their occupations, and reduced to just 26% in the age bracket of 36-40 years.
58% of those who don’t play any sport cited ‘Lack of time’ as the main reason *
However, the research brought out that the same respondents also spent close to 4-5 hours on social media, watching TV, personal phone conversations and usage of various messaging platforms on a typical working day (all put together).
In fact, the average frequency of uploading content on one’s social media handles was found to be 9 times in a month
Additionally, the average number of working hours for those who don’t play was found to be lesser than those who do (4.8 hours vs. 5.4 hours)
Interestingly, 81% of those who do play said they did so simply because they ‘enjoyed playing’ *
Other reasons for playing sport include ‘keeping fit’ and ‘relief from stress’
76% percent of those who play stated that they play in any open spaces that they find near their homes and 65% play with neighbors. Both clearly showing that lack of infrastructure or unavailability of people to play with were not barriers to play.
Goa led the charts with 89% of the respondents playing a sport at least once in the span of the last one month*
It was closely followed by Hyderabad and Mumbai. However, such cities were far and few as Gurgaon, Raipur and Patna were rated extremely low on this index with only 18%, 15% and 12% of the respondents from these cities playing at least once in the last 1 month.
Expressing his disappointment on the findings Virat Kohli said, “It is shocking to see that one-third of the country has not done any kind of physical activity in the last one year. When you are physically fit, you are more energized to take on challenges. I have experienced this personally, and therefore strongly believe in leading an active lifestyle.
Technology and social media is gaining preference over health and fitness in our lives. This needs to change. Sports can be seamlessly integrated into our daily life – one can do it anywhere and at any time. Hence, I urge everyone to Come Out and Play. It’s fun, relieves stress and helps us stay fit.”
The Managing Director of PUMA India Abhishek Ganguly said, “The study brings out alarming facts about India’s adoption of physical activity. It is essential to take corrective steps to address this situation. Playing sports is a simple yet effective solution that can be implemented into everyday life.
“Our endeavour has always been to encourage and promote an active lifestyle in the country. It is Virat Kohli’s personal mission to inspire India to get fitter, and we are delighted to partner with him in this journey.”
The task that Kohli and Puma India have undertaken is a stiff one and would require a lot of dedication if things are to be changed in a given time.
*Findings pertain to respondents in the age bracket of 22-40 years
