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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.

The Organisation Man

As the state president of the NCP (SP) Jayant Rajaram Patil has shown that he is the organization man of the party. Highly educated from a foreign university, he sports a rich heritage of a vast number of cooperative institutions founded and built by his father Rajarambapu Patil and has a distinction of being the youngest finance minister of the state.


Born on February 16, 1962, in Sangli, Maharashtra, he was named ‘Jayant,’ meaning victorious, as he was born shortly after his father’s first electoral victory in the state assembly election. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) in Mumbai and then pursued a Master’s degree from the New Jersey Institute of Technology in the United States. However, the sudden demise of his father in 1984 brought him back to India, where he took over his father’s cooperative organizations and began his journey in social work.


Jayant Patil’s political career began in earnest in 1990 when he contested the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections from the Walwa constituency on an Indian National Congress ticket. He won the election and has since represented the Islampur (formerly Walwa) constituency for over three decades. His political acumen and dedication to public service quickly earned him a reputation as a capable leader.


He was from among the team young politicians handpicked by Sharad Pawar while forming the Nationalist Congress Party in 1999. He became the Finance Minister after winning assembly election in 1999 and served till 2008. He then took on the role of Home Minister from 2008 to 2009, followed by a stint as the Rural Development Minister from 2009 to 2014. In the Uddhav Thackeray-led government, he was Water Resources minister between 2019 and 2022.


Jayant Patil is known for his organizational skills, strategic thinking and ability to navigate complex political landscapes. He was made the state party chief in 2014 when the NCP was at its lowest. He implemented novel initiatives like Rashtravadi Parivar Samvad Yatra to instil confidence among the party cadres, recruited new leadership to replace those who had left the party and brought in new technology-led initiatives to knit the party organization till the booth-level. It was due to his efforts that the party’s position was much better and the party could think of forming government in the state in 2019.


Over the long political journey spanning over three decades, Jayant Patil has acquired skills to carve out his own niche among the other political stalwarts in his home district of Sangli. He also has cordial relations with leaders from opposition camps. He is a man of few words and a soft spoken gentle man. These qualities will be tested in this election.

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