In order to make India a rich sporting nation, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has urged his fellow countrymen to develop a ‘multi-sport’ culture within the country. The Master Blaster on Saturday (February 3) stressed on creating 'Sports Cities' to achieve the same objective.

"I would like to see India as a multi-sport nation. We should also look at creating 'Sport Cities'. There is a need for more and more sports academies to nurture young athletes along with creating new infrastructure to catapult India from a sports watching nation to a sports playing nation," Tendulkar was quoted as saying by PTI.

Tendulkar, who was nominated as the Rajya Sabha member back in 2012, also highlighted the importance of infrastructure.

"Every child should have the right to play and have access to infrastructure. Over the years I have seen various sports gaining grounds in terms of awareness in people and the government initiatives towards it. Sports like badminton, football, kabaddi among others have seen increasing awareness and appreciation towards athletes," Tendulkar said.

"Appreciation is important for athletes and has the ability to motivate them to achieve their full potential. I applaud the 'Khelo India' initiative of Indian government. It is the step in the right direction, and strong grass roots competitions will surely make us more competitive," he elaborated.

Sachin was in Kolkata to promote the IDBI Federal Life Insurance Kolkata Full Marathon, as reported by PTI. Taking the moment, the batting maestro also called for a "Swasth Bharat".

"The nation contributes to the overall development of the country. There has been an increase in number of people suffering from lifestyle diseases over the years. Being fit is not a luxury but the need of the hour. It is the change we need to make, if we see ourselves competing with other nations," Tendulkar pointed out.

"Being associated with the marathons from IDBI Federal gives me an opportunity to spread awareness and inspire people to take up healthy lifestyle habits," he concluded.

In December 2017, Sachin had talked about building a sporting culture in the country, otherwise a young, unfit, unhealthy India will be a recipe for disaster. He put forward his roadmap to accomplish those goals through three 'I' - Invest, Insure and Immortalise.

"We must invest our own time and effort and ensure our wellness and each one of us must to start adopting one active sport and play regularly," Tendulkar had said in a video message.

Watch the video here: