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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.

Now, Ajit Dada of NCP

Updated: Nov 25, 2024

NCP

Mumbai: The NCP chief Ajit Pawar has strengthened his position in the Mahayuti not only by winning 41 seats but with an impressive strike rate of 65 per cent. This performance has put the full stop on the whispering of whether Ajit Pawar is still relevant for Mahayuti.


The ruling alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party factions led by Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar was ahead in 231 of the state’s 288 seats. Within the Mahayuti, it is the BJP that is ahead; the saffron party is leading in 132 of the 149 seats it is contesting. The Shinde Sena is ahead in 55 of the 81 it is contesting and Ajit Pawar’s NCP 40 of 59.


Considering the figures BJP and Shiv Sena can easily form the government. However, the BJP leadership is in no mood to upset the alliance. Nevertheless, the RSS has some reservations about Ajit Pawar. But the BJP has decided to continue with the three-party alliance even in future. Ajit Pawar’s clout in Western Maharashtra especially in the sugar belt cannot be overlooked and in this backdrop BJP will not desert NCP.


The MVA - decimated after claiming victory in the Lok Sabha election this year, in which it won 30 of the state’s 48 Lok Sabha seats. This time around the MVA managed to get only 52 seats. Its solo show aside, the BJP will still need both the Shinde Sena and Ajit Pawar’s seats to cross the two third majority mark. And it is those two that will put its larger ally out of reach of the MVA. Overall, the Shinde Sena and Ajit Pawar are on course to win 95 seats.


The Mahayuti is en route to a record win in the Maharashtra Assembly election, in which no alliance has ever crossed the magic 200-seat mark. In the Mahayuti, the Shinde Sena and the BJP appear to be at odds on the same issue, with the former batting for Shinde to continue and the latter pitching Fadnavis, who was the Chief Minister when the BJP and (then) undivided Sena were in power between 2014 and 2019. The NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar has thrown its hat in the ring too, on the back of hopes it will emerge as the ‘kingmaker’. However, a clear-cut verdict has ruled out this possibility.


Ajit has been considered to be the weakest link of the Mahayuti alliance since its formation and all through the seat-sharing talks for the election. The taunts along this line have come mostly from leaders of the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP who claimed the patriarch’s nephew “betrayed” the family only to end up in a “weak position” in Mahayuti.

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