Big B cheers for Abhisheks Kabaddi team from the sidelines during a Pro-Kabaddi league match
Lauding his son Abhishek Bachchan's initiative for the promotion of kabaddi, Amitabh Bachchan says the country is capable of excelling at multiple sporting events, if people put their heart, mind and business sense to it.
Abhishek has lent the game of kabaddi a cool upmarket image by getting a stake in the Jaipur Pink Panthers franchise of the Pro-Kabaddi League. His team also won the inaugural championship.
Talking about it, Big B said: "Yes, Abhishek owns a Kabaddi team, a team that has won the first championship of Pro-Kabaddi. I am extremely happy for him and proud too in the way he went about encouraging the sport personally and individually."
Do you feel, like we all do, that too much attention is given to cricket in our country?
"No. Too much attention is not being given to cricket. Not enough attention is being given to other sports," he said.
The 71-year-old, who loves watching cricket and football, said: "We are a vast and massive country. We must garner and encourage and be proficient in many sporting events. If we put our hearts and minds and business into them it should never be a problem to pick a team of 11, 7, 5, 4 or 2 players from 1.25 billion, a sixth of the entire population of the world!"
"Countries the world over get identified by the sport they excel in. India should be one of them too," added the megastar, whose son has also invested in a franchise of the Indian Super League football.