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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.

Voice of bankers deserts left, joins Congress

Mumbai: Well-known banker-cum-trade unionist Vishwas R. Utagi – who is credited with exposing several banking-insurance-financial frauds in India – has joined the Congress.

 

A popular go-to-name for banks-finance related matters even among mediapersons, Utagi, 70, retired from the Bank of Maharashtra after 40 years’ service, capped with his appointment as the Employee-Director (2000-2003) on its board.

 

He was among those instrumental in exposing the infamous 1992 scam by the late Big Bull and stockbroker Harshad Mehta that shook the country’s banking-political sectors.

 

“Those were very exciting days… I was called by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) formed that year to probe the stock-markets scam and its huge economic-political ramifications,” said Utagi, in a detailed chat with ‘The Perfect Voice’.

 

In his new role for the Congress, Utagi hopes to organize the SME sector – the backbone of Indian economy – “which is in dire straits since the past few years”, to become the party’s ‘economic face’, raise issued of finance, banking and commerce, that directly affect the common man daily.

 

“The Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre and state have failed abysmally on the economic front. The government has become increasingly arbitrary, with growing interference in the working of banks. Many rich capitalists have defrauded banks of massive amounts and fled the country. But no action is taken against them,” said Utagi.

 

In the early 1990s, Utagi called on 60 MPs plus the then Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh – who later became Prime Minister (2004-2014) to resolve the imbroglio of the crisis-hit Bank of Karad, along with a senior party leader, Prithviraj Chavan, who subsequently became a union minister and also served as Maharashtra CM.

 

At one point, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and certain other agencies utilized Utagi’s expertise to crack various financial frauds including the stock-markets and more banking scams involving liquor baron Vijay Mallya and diamantaire uncle-nephew of Mehul Choksi-Nirav Modi.

 

Utagi's deep concern for masses

 A banker with a Leftist inclination, he worked passionately for the success of the banks’ nationalization policy implemented (1969 and 1980), expansion of the public sector banks’ network to the remotest corners of the country, highlighting or exposing the flaws in the banking systems, and safeguarding the interests of the bank employees both in the public and private domain, not to forget the customers.

 

With lofty aims in mind, Utagi was involved in various capacities with the Investors Action Forum Charitable Trust, Bank Depositors’ Protection & Welfare Society, Chairman of Indian Institute of Banking & Finance Employees/Officers Association, several other national-level banking trade unions, plus All Trade Unions Co-Convener and Trade Unions Joint Action Committee.

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