Shivam Thakur on Sports Career, Corruption and Comeback in India

Watch: क्यों 90% Athletes बर्बाद हो जाते हैं? | The Dark Reality of Indian Sports | Sarvesh Mishra Show (~66 min)

This episode reflects the personal experiences and opinions of the guest, Shivam Thakur, regarding sports administration and government support in India. It is shared for informational and educational purposes and is not a formal assessment of any government scheme or organisation.

What This Episode Covers

• Why the old belief that sports ruins a career no longer holds true
• How a knee injury forced a switch from cricket to shooting at seventeen
• The real income sources for Indian athletes: sponsorship, ads and endorsements
• Why alcohol brands pay athletes more than almost anyone else
• Corruption at district level and how it kills athletes before they reach state level
• What government support for medal winners actually looks like
• Why cricket gets media coverage and most other sports do not
• Building SGADF and reaching over 40 lakh children across India
• The Khelo Gram platform for grassroot athletes
• Personal branding and social media for a professional athlete
• Practical guide, benefits and common mistakes for young athletes
• Advice for parents and children choosing between studies and sport

Why So Many Young Athletes Are Told They Will Fail

There is an old Hindi saying that runs through the entire conversation. Play and you will grow up worthless, study and you will grow up respected. Shivam Thakur, an international pistol shooter with medals across county championships and founder of SGADF, tells host Sarvesh Mishra that this saying no longer holds any truth. Sport today produces doctors, engineers, scientists and police officers, because sport builds discipline that carries into every other field. The episode opens with this shift in mindset before moving into the harder, more practical questions that most young athletes and their parents actually want answered. Read the show explainer at What Is The Sarvesh Mishra Show?

Who Is Shivam Thakur?

Shivam Thakur grew up in a middle class family near Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. He started as a cricketer, playing at district and state level, before a serious knee injury during an Under 19 camp in Kochi ended that path in 2014. He picked up pistol shooting soon after, mostly self taught, learning technique from championships and observation rather than expensive private coaching.

He has since won more than 31 medals, including gold, silver and bronze, across international county competitions. In 2016, he founded the School Games and Activity Development Foundation, now working with more than 40 lakh children across 220 different sports, and later launched Khelo Gram, a platform built specifically to give grassroot level athletes the same recognition international players receive.

From Cricket to Shooting: A Forced Switch

Shivam is direct about why he changed sports. It was not planned. His knee injury made cricket physically impossible, and switching was his only real option since his family could not afford the six lakh rupees a doctor asked for surgery. He spent a year and a half in rehabilitation, then chose shooting almost by accident, trying archery first before finding that a pistol suited his body better.

His advice to any young athlete is not to copy someone else's path. He never knew about Olympic shooter Abhinav Bindra before he picked up the sport himself, and he warns strongly against choosing a sport just because someone else made it look glamorous. Related: Yogacharya Dhakaram on yoga as a career.

Where Athlete Income Actually Comes From

One of the most useful parts of the episode breaks down exactly how professional athletes earn money in India. Sponsorship, brand ambassador deals and advertising are the three real sources, alongside prize money and running an academy once an athlete becomes recognised.

Shivam explains that alcohol brands are almost uniquely generous toward sportspeople, since the association between energy, performance and the product works directly in the brand's favour, while he personally avoids endorsing betting apps or drinks regardless of the offer, since children who follow his organisation would see that endorsement too. Related: Ashish Agarwal on starting a business with ₹1 lakh.

The Corruption Problem at District Level

The conversation turns sharply honest when discussing why so many talented athletes never make it past district competitions. Shivam describes a common scenario: two athletes almost equally matched, and a phone call from someone influential deciding who advances. He calls this the fate of the nineteen versus twenty athlete, the one who loses not on ability but on connections. His advice is blunt. Build a skill nobody can take away, because talent, unlike a district selection, cannot be stolen from you by anyone.

What Government Support Really Looks Like

Many people assume a medal winning athlete is showered with government support. Shivam corrects this directly. After retirement, there is no guaranteed government support unless the athlete has already secured a job through a sports quota. Even prize cheques announced publicly by state governments can take two to three years to actually clear, and he cites a real case from Punjab where an Arjuna Award winning athlete waited three years for a promised cheque and eventually decided to return the award in frustration. Government support, he explains, only tends to arrive once an athlete has already proven something, not before. Related: N.P. Singh on sarkari naukri and education.

Why Cricket Dominates Media Coverage

Shivam explains this through simple economics rather than bias. Media companies need revenue, revenue comes from advertising, and advertisers follow audience attention, which overwhelmingly goes to cricket. Sports like shooting rarely get free television coverage, and international events often move behind paid subscriptions, which further shrinks the audience most other sports could otherwise build.

Building SGADF and the Khelo Gram Platform

After quitting competitive cricket, Shivam started SGADF as a teenager, running his first national tournament in Hisar with just 600 participants funded through a small per athlete registration fee, since there was no sponsorship or capital behind it. That organisation has since grown to work across 220 different sports and reach more than 40 lakh children nationwide. Recognising that grassroot athletes rarely get the same respect as international players, he built Khelo Gram specifically to give every level of athlete equal visibility on one shared platform.

For official information on India's national grassroot sports program, see Khelo India from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

Personal Branding and Social Media for Athletes

Shivam is candid that he once dismissed social media as pure showmanship, since he came from an era before it existed. His view has shifted. Visibility today comes largely through platforms like Instagram and Google search presence, and brands increasingly search for athletes online before offering any deal. He stresses that fame on one platform is fragile since platforms themselves can disappear, but an athlete's actual achievements and searchable presence outlast any single app.

Practical Guide: What To Do If You Want a Sports Career

1. Prove your talent first through consistent performance before expecting outside support.
2. Keep a financial safety net, part time work or family support, while building toward recognition.
3. Build your own visibility, a simple online presence with real achievements listed, not just follower counts.
4. Approach organisations like SGADF or district sports bodies for certificates valid under sports quota.
5. Avoid shortcuts or influence based selections, since short term wins rarely build a long term career.
6. Choose a sport based on your own instinct and body, not because someone else made it look easy.
7. Keep documentation of every medal and certificate, since these become your proof when asking for support.

Benefits Discussed in the Episode

• A long term career path, since sport, unlike many jobs, can continue generating income through coaching and mentoring after retirement.
• Multiple income streams available once an athlete builds visibility: sponsorship, brand deals and academy income.
• A skill and network that opens doors in coaching, mentoring and sports administration even without a medal.
• A platform like Khelo Gram that gives grassroot athletes equal exposure alongside international competitors.
• Sports quota recognition that can support admissions and government job applications when certificates are used correctly.

Common Mistakes Young Athletes Make

• Expecting government or company support before proving anything through actual results.
• Choosing a sport purely by copying another athlete's success instead of testing personal fit.
• Ignoring personal branding entirely, then struggling to attract sponsorship once results start coming.
• Giving up after one unfair loss at district level instead of building a broader base of proof.
• Endorsing any brand offer without considering how it affects young followers who trust the athlete.
• Assuming a single social media platform is a permanent career asset instead of a temporary tool.

Key Takeaways

1. Sports careers today lead to careers in medicine, engineering, law enforcement and business, not just to fame.
2. Losing a district match to influence rather than ability is common, and the fix is unimpeachable, provable skill.
3. Government financial support for athletes is inconsistent and often delayed by years even after public announcement.
4. Alcohol brands pay athletes more than most other advertisers, which raises real ethical questions for many athletes.
5. Cricket dominates Indian sports media because of audience revenue, not because other sports lack talent.
6. Grassroot platforms like Khelo Gram exist specifically to give lesser known athletes equal recognition.
7. A strong online presence and personal brand today matters almost as much as athletic performance itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Shivam Thakur's story is less about medals and more about the systems most Indian athletes quietly struggle against: delayed government cheques, district level favouritism, and a media industry that rewards only a handful of sports. What comes through clearly is that talent alone is not enough. Proof, patience, personal branding and a genuine support network matter just as much as raw skill. For any young athlete or parent trying to decide whether sport is a viable path, this conversation offers a rare, unfiltered look at what that path actually requires.

Watch Shivam Thakur's full conversation with Sarvesh Mishra. More guests live in the guest index and the writings archive.

Sarvesh Mishra is an Indian entrepreneur, journalist, interviewer, author and storyteller. His career spans nearly two decades, from ground-level journalism across 11 Indian states to building media companies and conscious living platforms. He is the Founder of Red Hot Media House Pvt. Ltd. and CureSoulLife Pvt. Ltd. and the host of The Sarvesh Mishra Show.