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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.

Dhule’s Dilemma

Updated: Nov 12, 2024

Dhule

After years marred by faltering leadership and unmet promises, Dhule, a city steeped in both potential and frustration, finds itself grappling with a familiar malaise as yet another election approaches. For nearly 14 years, Dhule, positioned strategically in north Maharashtra, has teetered between hope and disappointment. Its incorporation into the ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) in 2011 was seen as a harbinger of industrial renaissance, promising to morph the city into a bustling logistics and textile hub. Yet, over a decade later and ahead of the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly polls, the Dhule City segment remains a byword for missed opportunities.


The reality on the ground is a stark contrast to the grand visions once touted. This city, cradled by two major national highways - Mumbai-Agra and Surat-Kolkata - has yet to see its infrastructure match its geographic advantage. Roads are left half-dug, industrial zones remain underdeveloped, and its cotton-rich fields are bereft of the expected industrial leap.


This cycle of unfulfilled potential has engendered deep political disillusionment. For Dhule’s residents, elections are less an opportunity for renewal and more a ritual of hope deferred and the politicians and elected representatives reflect this stagnancy in Dhule’s politics.


The city’s electorate, once optimistic, has seen its trust eroded as one MLA after another failed to effect meaningful change. In 2019, the victory of AIMIM’s Shah Faruk Anwar, in a nod to Dhule’s significant minority community (numbering roughly 50 per cent), sparked a fleeting moment of anticipation. But Anwar’s tenure, like that of his predecessors, has left voters yearning for more than symbolic representation.


The mercurial Anil Gote, who became MLA in 2009 and then got re-elected on a BJP ticket in 2014, and Rajwardhan Kadambande (first in the undivided NCP and later an independent candidate) have also cycled through Dhule’s political scene with little to show for their stints.


Even Anup Agrawal of the BJP, the current candidate of the ruling Mahayuti, whose platform hinges on revitalizing Dhule through industrial development and an MIDC push, acknowledges the missed chances. The BJP, despite its dominance at the state and national levels, failed to seize Dhule’s latent advantages.

The city’s upcoming election invites fresh narratives but remains clouded by scepticism. A fresh entrant into Dhule’s tired political scene is Irshad Jahagirdar campaign, who was Samajwadi Party (SP) boss Akhilesh Yadav’s pick for the Dhule City seat.


With much fanfare, Jahagirdar’s name was announced even before consultations with the opposition MVA bloc leaders (the SP being a part of the INDIA bloc which includes the three MVA parties). It brings new ambitions but familiar doubts. A former NCP regional secretary, Jahagirdar’s bid centers on promises of healthcare improvement and job creation. His rivals dismiss these pledges as opportunistic.


Jahagirdar is out to cannibalize votes of the opposition MVA. Anil Gote, now flying the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT)’s flag, is the MVA candidate this time.


As a mark of Dhule’s development, he points to modest projects, such as the Panzara river cleanup as evidence of progress. However, they pale against the backdrop of Dhule’s unfulfilled potential.

For Dhule’s voters, the choice on polling day on November 20 is whether to endorse another experiment in governance or to demand more than rhetoric from those who seek to lead. This time, the call is not just for new promises but for a leadership capable of breaking the cycle of disillusionment and steering Dhule toward the prosperity that has long eluded it.

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