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By:

Bhalchandra Chorghade

11 August 2025 at 1:54:18 pm

Applause for Cricket, Silence for Badminton

Mumbai: When Lakshya Sen walked off the court after the final of the All England Badminton Championships, he carried with him the disappointment of another near miss. The Indian shuttler went down in straight games to Lin Chun-Yi, who created history by becoming the first player from Chinese Taipei to lift the prestigious title. But the story of Lakshya Sen’s defeat is not merely about badminton final. It is also about the contrasting way India celebrates its sporting heroes. Had the same...

Applause for Cricket, Silence for Badminton

Mumbai: When Lakshya Sen walked off the court after the final of the All England Badminton Championships, he carried with him the disappointment of another near miss. The Indian shuttler went down in straight games to Lin Chun-Yi, who created history by becoming the first player from Chinese Taipei to lift the prestigious title. But the story of Lakshya Sen’s defeat is not merely about badminton final. It is also about the contrasting way India celebrates its sporting heroes. Had the same narrative unfolded on a cricket field, the reaction would have been dramatically different. In cricket, even defeat often becomes a story of heroism. A hard-fought loss by the Indian team can dominate television debates, fill newspaper columns and trend across social media for days. A player who narrowly misses a milestone is still hailed for his fighting spirit. The nation rallies around its cricketers not only in victory but also in defeat. The narrative quickly shifts from the result to the effort -- the resilience shown, the fight put up, the promise of future triumph. This emotional investment is one of the reasons cricket enjoys unparalleled popularity in India. It has built a culture where players become household names and their performances, good or bad, become part of the national conversation. Badminton Fights Contrast that with what happens in sports like badminton. Reaching the final of the All England Championships is a monumental achievement. The tournament is widely considered badminton’s equivalent of Wimbledon in prestige and tradition. Only the very best players manage to reach its final stages, and doing it twice speaks volumes about Lakshya Sen’s ability and consistency. Yet the reaction in India remained largely subdued. There were congratulatory posts, some headlines acknowledging the effort and brief discussions among badminton enthusiasts. But the level of national engagement never quite matched the magnitude of the achievement. In a cricketing context, reaching such a stage would have triggered days of celebration and analysis. In badminton, it often becomes just another sports update. Long Wait India’s wait for an All England champion continues. The last Indian to win the title was Pullela Gopichand in 2001. Before him, Prakash Padukone had scripted history in 1980. These victories remain among the most significant milestones in Indian badminton. And yet, unlike cricketing triumphs that are frequently revisited and celebrated, such achievements rarely stay in the mainstream sporting conversation for long. Lakshya Sen’s journey to the final should ideally have been viewed as a continuation of that legacy, a reminder that India still possesses the talent to challenge the world’s best in badminton. Instead, it risks fading quickly from public memory. Visibility Gap The difference ultimately comes down to visibility and cultural investment. Cricket in India is not merely a sport; it is an ecosystem built over decades through media attention, sponsorship, and mass emotional attachment. Individual sports, on the other hand, often rely on momentary bursts of recognition, usually during Olympic years or when a medal is won. But consistent performers like Lakshya Sen rarely receive the sustained spotlight that their achievements deserve. This disparity can also influence the next generation. Young athletes are naturally drawn to sports where success brings recognition, financial stability and national fame. When one sport monopolises the spotlight, others struggle to build similar appeal. Beyond Result Lakshya Sen may have finished runner-up again, but his performance at the All England Championship is a reminder that India continues to produce world-class athletes in disciplines beyond cricket. The real issue is not that cricket receives immense attention -- it deserves the admiration it gets. The concern is that athletes from other sports often do not receive comparable appreciation for achievements that are equally significant in their own arenas. If India aspires to become a truly global sporting nation, its applause must grow broader. Sporting pride cannot remain confined to one field. Because somewhere on a badminton court, an athlete like Lakshya Sen is fighting just as hard for the country’s colours as any cricketer on a packed stadium pitch. The only difference is how loudly the nation chooses to cheer.

A beeline for NCP (SP)

THE PARTY IS SEEING AN INFLUX OF SENIOR LEADERS FROM WESTERN MAHARASHTRA AND MARATHWADA


WESTERN MAHARASHTRA AND MARATHWADA

Mumbai: A popular joke doing the rounds is that Sharad Pawar has been on a shopping spree of Western Maharashtra and Marathwada, picking up local strongmen and putting them into his kitty—the NCP (SP). Over the past few weeks, on the heels of the party’s sparkling show at the Lok Sabha polls and the possibility of a return to power after the Vidhan Sabha elections, politicians from different parties are jumping onto the senior Pawar’s bandwagon. Harshvardhan Patil, after a stint with the BJP, has returned to the fold and was immediately inducted into the party’s parliamentary committee. Other big names to swear allegiance to the NCP’s patriarch are Samarjeet Ghatge of Kagal, Ajit Gavhane, Naik, Laxman Dhoble, former guardian minister of Solapur, Ramesh Thorat from Daund and Rajendra Mhaske, a former BJP man from Beed. 


More than 20 prominent politicians have joined the party in the past few weeks in the run-up to the Vidhan Sabha elections. “There is a two-way engagement with those who want to join the party. Over the course of the past few months, we have understood that we have to work twice as hard to replicate the success of the Lok Sabha elections. This requires a consolidation of all those voices who are speaking out against the current government. On the other side, scores of leaders are disillusioned, and have sought to leave parties that they have been part of. I am grateful they have chosen us, the NCP (SP) as their home today,” says Anish Gawande, national spokesperson, NCP (SP). 


It’s no secret that senior leaders with a mass base have joined the party with an eye on a nomination. However, not all can be accommodated. The understanding, says Gawande, was clear. “Leaders are judged on merit and then given responsibilities. Every candidacy is dependent on electoral merit,” he says. The rule has been applied to those who have returned from the Ajit Pawar faction and also those who have come in from other parties with divergent and contrasting ideologies. 


Political watchers, however, claim that this isn’t an election of sentiment or ideology. Another NCP (SP) leader who doesn’t want to be named, says that this election needs mass leaders who can get the voters out because these polls will be dependent only on the numbers. That’s the number one criterion. Apart from balancing the caste equations, which are on the boil with the ongoing Maratha reservation agitation. “We have to rely on mass leaders who can get the voters out,” he says. 


Ideologies and affiliations don’t matter. They are knocking at Pawar’s door with hopes of getting a nomination for the elections or a promise of good prospects later. Many switched sides after realising that their chances of contesting from their original parties were slim, given the peculiar alliances that Maharashtra has recently seen. Samarjeet Ghatge, on realising that the BJP has had to relinquish its claim to the Kagal seat for the NCP’s Hasan Mushrif, switched to the NCP (SP) in a grand public gathering. BJP leader Ganesh Naik stays with the BJP while his son Sandeep, who was denied a nomination by the BJP from Belapur, returned to the NCP(SP). 


The crossing over works well for both sides. While politicians get a chance to retain their hold over their constituencies by getting a shot at winning the polls, the party gets a leader with a strong bloc of grassroots workers. 


The inflow has been carefully selected. Consolidate is the buzzword as the party is strengthening its base and force by inducting local leaders who can give the party a boost in various regions. Throughout its lifetime, the undivided NCP had western Maharashtra as its stronghold. But with the departure of sitting legislators, the NCP (SP) is now in the process of bringing in new people to retain its bastion of western Maharashtra and is also spreading its wings across Marathwada. 


The party, however, dismisses claims of smart strategies to consolidate its voter base. “There is anger among the people given the agrarian crisis and the way this government is handling the matter,” says Gawande.

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