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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 Sugar Pill from Sugar Belt

harshavardhan patil

In politics, they say, there are no permanent friends or enemies and this saying is best defined by harshavardhan patil, the former minister who switched parties on the eve of the 2019 elections and now, weeks before the state goes to the polls on November 20. He has travelled across parties, starting out as an independent candidate in 1995 from his home turf Indapur, was a minister for water conservation in the Shiv Sena-BJP government between 1995 and 1999 and continued his winning spree as an independent until 2004. He joined the Congress to contest the 2009 polls as the party’s candidate and held the cabinet portfolios for parliamentary affairs and the all-important cooperative department until the Congress-NCP lost power in 2014. But with his warm and affable nature, he’s known to have friends and cordial relations across parties.


Unable to secure a nomination in the 2019 elections from the Congress which was then in alliance with the undivided NCP, Patil accused the NCP of betraying him and switched to the BJP, claiming to have faith in Narendra Modi’s vision. While he contested the 2019 polls as a BJP candidate, he lost to the NCP’s Dattatrey Bharne. He went into political wilderness since then, unable to secure a nomination to the upper house of the Maharashtra legislature. In early 2024, Patil was elected as the president of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories and has been working on resolving the issues of the sugar industry. With a good hold over his home turf, a deep understanding of the cooperative sector and a close network in the constituency, Patil had an eye on contesting the 2024 polls. With the new alliance arrangement, the BJP had to concede the seat to Ajit Pawar, prompting Patil to quickly switch over to the party, the NCP (SP), that he had accused of betrayal only five years ago. But his reach and influence over the cooperatives in Indapur could prove to be an asset to any party, a reason he was warmly welcomed into the fold despite opposite from the local rank and file of the NCP (SP).


Patil’s daughter Ankita is seen as his political heir. Director of the Indian Sugar Mills Association, she entered politics and is a member of the Zilla Parishad in Pune. Days before her father quit the BJP, Ankita resigned from the party. She is married to Bal Thackeray’s older grandson Nihar.


His departure never ruffles feathers for too long given his friendly personality. He is only known to have an uneasy rapport with Ajit Pawar while they competed for political one upmanship of Indapur, which falls within the Baramati Parliamentary constituency.


It is said that during these Lok Sabha elections, Patil offered his tacit support to Supriya Sule while the incumbent legislator moved with Ajit Pawar. Patil has been rewarded for his support with a nomination to the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections.

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