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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.

Plan to make Maharashtra a 5 trillion dollar economy by 2047

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has put forth a vision to make Maharashtra a 5 trillion dollar economy by 2047. He told the Neeti Aayog meeting at Delhi on Saturday that his government in the state is busy preparing a time-bound program to bring this vision into reality.


Maharashtra government recently completed its 100-day exercise to set and achieve goals to make the state administration transparent, accessible and accountable. Various government departments achieved over 700 targets set by them during the period. In the next phase, a more elaborate 150-day program too was launched recently with a special focus on e-governance. Similarly a long term vision too is being charted out, the CM told the Neeti Aayog.


In 2047 Maharashtra will be completing 75 years of its formation and the state administration is currently busy charting a grand vision for the occasion and also the roadmap to achieve the set goals. These goals too are being set in a phased manner. The first phase is till 2029 and goals are being set for every year till 2029. The next phase will be till 2035 and the last phase will be of 12 years between 2035 and 2047 to realize the vision in action, the CM said.


Among the key factors of the grand vision are the goals to make the state’s economy worth 1 trillion dollars by 2030 and worth 5 trillion dollars by 2047. Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) shall play an important role in this as it is being developed as a growth hub which in itself will be a 1.5 trillion economy by 2047, the CM said.


Industrial development

The state government is also planning to boost the potentials of the tier-2 and tier-3 cities through industrial development. As part of these efforts Gadchiroli is being developed as the Steel City, Nagpur as the defence hub, Amravati as Textile cluster, Chhatrapati SambhajiNagar and AURIC city as EV production hubs while the port town of Dight in Raigad district is being developed into a smart industrial city, he added.


CM Fadnavis also said that the state government has formulated several policies to give a boost to services sectors. Some of the policies he mentioned in this regard are IT policy, Export Promotion Policy. Logistics Policy, Audio-Visual-Gaming_Comics (AVGC) policy, GCC (Global Competence Centre) policy etc.


Boost to MSME

While counting the state’s achievements, the CM said that the state has over 60 lakh MSME registered on the Udyam portal, which, he said, is the highest number in the country. He also said that by the means of ease of doing business and the CM’s employment generation program over 2 lakh entrepreneurs were given assistance in developing their businesses.


The state government is also developing a innovation city to give a boost to startups and constructive talent. The sectors identified for this include AI, green energy, biotech, Fintech, Agritech etc. which is expected to lead an ecosystem based on smart manufacturing. The CM also mentioned two MOUS worth Rs 5000 crore for global studios signed at the recent WAVES summit in the city.


To power this grand vision several MOUs have been recently signed to ensure 45,500 MW of additional power to the state. Majority of this power is green and the state shall have 52% of its total power supply through green sources by 2030, the CM told the conference of the heads of states.


He also sought the centre’s guidance and assistance in planning and implementation of 2027 Kumbha mela at Nashik and also in other sectors to achieve the envisioned growth targets.

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