New Delhi, March 16 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has weighed in on his thoughts surrounding India-Pakistan's rivalry on the cricket field citing the Men in Blue's superior record over their neighbouring country as proof.

Virat Kohli's century powered India to a six-wicket victory over Pakistan in the group stage of the 2025 Champions Trophy before ultimately ending up as tournament winners. The arch-rivals have only registered two wins over India in ICC tournament history - in the 2017 Champions Trophy finals and the group stage of the 2021 T20 World Cup in their age-old fierce rivalry.

"I think sports have the power to energise the entire world. The spirit of sports brings people across nations together. That's why I would never want sports to get discredited. I truly believe sports play a major role in human evolution. They're not just games; they connect people on a deeper level.

"Now coming to the question of who's better or not. When it comes to the techniques of the game, I'm not an expert. Only those who specialise in it can be the judge of it. They can only decide which team is the best and which players are the best. But sometimes, the results speak for themselves. Just a few days ago, India and Pakistan played a match and the result revealed who was the better team. That's how we know," said Modi on the Lex Fridman podcast.

Under PM Modi's tenure, sports has been given a major boost with the country striving to be a sporting nation which also includes India potentially hosting the 2036 Olympics. He was also asked about who he thinks is the greatest football player of all time and PM Modi replied with the names of two Argentinians - Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi - who are said to be the best in the history of the game.

'It is absolutely true that many regions in India have a strong football culture. Our women's football team is performing really well, and our men's team is progressing really well. If we talk about the past, in the 1980's, one name that always stood out was Diego Maradona. For that generation, he was seen as a true hero and if you ask today's generation they'll immediately say Lionel Messi,' he added.

/IANS