By: Dr. Mohammad Aleem (Chief News Editor- ICN Group)
NEW DELHI: Credibility and strength of any institution and university is often judged by its academic strength and excellence, both at faculty and student level. So far, Jamia Millia Islamia as one of the most popular and foremost central university of India in its 95 years of existence has produced many writers, poets, scientists, filmmakers, painters and artists of national and international repute. But other activities also count very important like sports.
Some much recognizable faces are Shahrukh Khan, Kabir Khan and Kiran Rao in films, Barkha Dut and Anjana Om Kashyap in journalism. But its achievements in the field of sports are also not far behind. More than a dozen players it has sent in Hockey at national and international level.
Other fields like football and basketball also deserves true praise. But, it is the cricket which helped in drawing the attention of the people at large level through its brightest star, Virender Sehwag. His advent as an international player made Jamia truly proud.
The alumni list, particularly in Hockey is long, which includes one of the best players of Indian hockey like Danish Mujtaba, Devesh Singh Chauhan, Gagan Ajit Singh, Gurvinder Pal Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Bharat Chikara and Deepak Thakur. From this long alumnus list, four players have captained team India in different times and three players have been awarded the most prestigious sports award given by the Government of India, Arjuna award.
This endeavor to excel in almost every major fields of the sports is still intact and going on with the same zeal and passion. Of late, Jamia’s football, cricket and basketball teams have won the final matches at Bits Pilani Sports Meet BOSM-2017. It won not only the trophies but the cash prizes also.
The university has its own state of the art sports complex with all modern amenities and facilities like cricket ground, football ground, basketball and tennis courts etc. The new sports complex has been named after late Indian cricket captain, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. His enigmatic mother, Sajida Sultan, the former queen of Bhopal had donated the land to Jamia. A pavilion also stood majestically which has been named after former cricketer, Virender Sehwag.
No doubt, Jamia administration is serious about promoting the sports on the campus. Vice Chancellor, Prof. Talat Ahmad and Director of Sports, Prof. Iqtedar Mohammad Khan are keen to take the university to a new height in this particular field. They are the motivational force for the students.
