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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 wounded fighter

Updated: Jan 6, 2025

Eknath Shinde is waiting for the right opportunity to strike back

Eknath Shinde

Mumbai: A month after being sworn-in as a Deputy Chief Minister, ruling Mahayuti ally Eknath Shinde seems to have emerged from his sullen mood and is seen all smiles, despite the perceived ‘demotion’ from the top post, where Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis extracted his sweet revenge.

 

As the Mahayuti settles down to govern for the next 59 months, the SS appears gung-ho, having bagged quite a few critical ministries.

 

Shinde, who had to compromise on the coveted Home Ministry, is apparently at home with a bouquet comprising Urban Development, Housing, Water, Public Health, School Education, Industry, plus other key departments for his party after tough bargaining with the Big Brother, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

 

Party sources said that though he could not return as CM, he bounced back as the No. 2 in the Cabinet and is now going all-out to prove his utility – and probably trump the other ally, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)’s Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

 

The first battle won, Shinde has trained guns on securing other influential positions at various levels – like state corporations, SEOs, and other posts – to keep his men in good stead in the coming years.

 

Not known to brag on his achievements, the SS chief and his team are quietly handling his portfolios which give them full control over the entire state’s urban set-up, housing sector, health, education, etc., which concern and are directly linked to the masses.

 

In turn, this is expected to reap rich dividends in the upcoming civic bodies elections where the Shinde-led party hopes to overtake or even edge out the Opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, particularly the Shiv Sena (UBT) headed by ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray.

 

On the MVA soothsayers predicting that the BJP would deploy old tricks to undermine or decimate regional allies, SS leaders claim that on the contrary, the alliance with the BJP has proved to be mutually beneficial for the Mahayuti partners.

 

However, the rumour-mills got a boost with the ongoing overtures by the SS (UBT) vis-à-vis Fadnavis – first Thackeray dropping in to meet the CM in Nagpur, then a sobered Sanjay Raut penning a fawning edit, several leaders lavishing praises, that was not lost on the MVA.

 

Raising doubts in various quarters whether the SS (UBT) was being prepared as a potential Team B to help out in any eventuality at the Centre, in case of a mood-swing by the mercurial NDA ally, Janata Dal (U) President and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.

 

However, a reluctant Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Krishna Hegde dismissed all Opposition conjectures on his party, the Mahayuti and the JD(U), reiterating that all are firmly united behind the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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