On Saturday, Haryana Health, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Anil Vij announced that former Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev would be appointed as the first Chancellor of the Haryana Sports University at Rai, Sonepat. Initially, the Haryana Cabinet decided to set up a Sports University in July 2019. Subsequently, the Legislative Assembly of Haryana passed the requisite legislation in last month’s Monsoon Session to pave way for the creation of the Sports University. Till now, the Motilal Nehru School of Sports had been operational at Rai. 

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Amendment to facilitate Dev's appointment

At the time of the Haryana Cabinet's approval to the proposal, Vij had stated that the Sport University's Vice-Chancellor would either be a sportsperson of international repute or a renowned sports administrator or a renowned sports academician. Normally, the Governor of Haryana is the Chancellor of every public university in the state. However, the law was amended specifically in the case of the new university. This has ensured that a private individual like Kapil Dev, would get the chance to directly assume the office of the Chancellor. 

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Objectives of the Haryana Sports University

While it would be the first full-fledged sports university in the state, it is overall the third such university to be set up by a state government. The Swarnim Gujarat Sports University and the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University are the other examples. Similarly, the Union Cabinet had cleared the proposal to create India's first National Sports University in Imphal, Manipur. According to Vij, the new university would have the powers to conduct academic and training programmes in physical education and sports sciences. He further mentioned that the disciplines of sports technology, sports medicine, sports management, sports infrastructure engineering, sports psychology, sports nutrition, sports journalism and sports marketing would fall within its ambit. 

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Kapil Dev, the World Cup hero

Considered as India's greatest fast-bowling all-rounder, Dev scored more than 9,000 runs and picked 687 wickets in international cricket. His stellar contribution as a player helped India win the Cricket World Cup in 1983 under his leadership. He was part of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) along with Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy that selected Ravi Shastri as India's Head Coach recently. They also interviewed several other candidates including Tom Moody, Mike Hesson, Lalchand Rajput and Robin Singh. 

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