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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.

BJP’s ‘chota popat’ jibe at Rahul after he mocks Modi’s slogan

BJP

Mumbai: After Rahul Gandhi’s swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Ek hain toh safe hain’ slogan, the BJP hit back at the Congress leader on Monday, calling him “chota popat” which it claimed was coined by Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray to mock him.


The party also slammed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his “poisonous snakes should be killed” barb, saying it shows the party’s “Emergency mindset” which likens rivals to snakes and incites violence against them.


Earlier in the day, claiming a link between the BJP’s slogan and the Dharavi redevelopment project being given to the Adani Group, Gandhi pulled out two posters from a safe he had brought to his press conference in Mumbai -- one featuring a picture of industrialist Gautam Adani and PM Modi along with the caption “Ek hain toh Safe hain” and another showing a map of the project.


“It was a very low-level press conference. Bringing a safe and creating drama around it. Holding this kind of press conference by the so-called top leader of the so-called national party does not suit Rahul Gandhi and the Congress,” BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra said reacting to Gandhi’s jibe.


“Today I say this from this platform and in Rahul Gandhi’s language that ‘Chota popat ne kiya hei Congress ko chaupat’ (he has ruined the Congress). His name is Rahul Gandhi,” the BJP leader said.


“I saw an interview of Bal Thackeray where he referred to Rahul Gandhi as chota popat. From today onwards, Rahul Gandhi’s name is going to be ‘chota popat’. This name will now be there on every child’s lips in Maharashtra.”


In another swipe, the BJP said on X that the Congress keeps anti-national elements safe, and if “we are together, then the Congress is unsafe”.

“If the Congress is there, then terrorists, Pakistan, Rohingyas and Waqf are safe. If we are one, then the Congress is unsafe,” it said.


Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday mocked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for bringing a safe to a press conference and said the latter would have found something valuable if it was brought from Matoshree, the Bandra residence of Shiv Sena (UBT) supremo Uddhav Thackeray.


“Rahul Gandhi’s act is childish. He should have brought the safe from Matoshree. He might have found something valuable,” Shinde said in a swipe at the Congress leader as well as Thackeray.


Attacking Thackeray for claiming only 60,000 people would benefit from the Dharavi redevelopment project, Shinde said the massive makeover of one of the world’s densest urban sprawls will give new homes to two lakh people.

“Under Thackeray’s leadership (government), only eligible residents, numbering around 60,000, would have got homes,” he said while calling the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader’s statement as “double standards” and “akin to match fixing”.


“We do not seek any political advantage from this. The Dharavi redevelopment project is on a global scale,” Shinde asserted.

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