New Delhi
Veteran badminton player Saina Nehwal recently spoke openly about the sporting culture in India. She said that cricket dominates the country and other sports are not given as much importance as they should be. 2012 London Olympics bronze medalist Saina believes that many other sports including badminton and tennis are physically more difficult than cricket. Many cricket fans did not like this statement of Saina. A user wrote on social media platform X, “Let’s see what Saina will do when Jaspreet Bumrah’s 150 kmph bumper ball comes on her head.” The star athlete has now reacted to the comparison between Bumrah and her. She has challenged India’s dashing fast bowler Bumrah.
‘Saw a situation like a badminton heart attack’
Saina said in Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast, “Look, will you play cricket to die? This is not my point. We are not talking about dying. You play the game to win or lose. You play the game to increase the honor of your country. Badminton is difficult because you are playing strokes with your hands up. It is very difficult to play with hands up. Because of that your heartbeat increases. I have seen heart attack like situations in badminton as well. I am not saying that badminton is the toughest game. I also mentioned tennis, swimming. Are cricket and football not tough? But if you look comparatively, when you bat, it is skill based. I did not say that cricket can be played at zero fitness.
‘Bumrah will not be able to withstand my smash shot?’
She further said, “You will not be able to become Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma at that level. Only a few players can become like Virat and Rohit. Cricket is more of a skill based sport. As far as Bumrah is concerned, why do I want to play with him. I am not going to die. If I had been playing for eight years, I would have given him an answer. If Bumrah plays badminton with me, he might not be able to take my smash shot. We should not fight among ourselves for these things in our country. Every sport is the best in its own place but I want to say that other sports should also be given importance. Otherwise, where will we bring sporting culture from? Our focus will always be on cricket and Bollywood. If someone else wins a medal, we will praise him. But what will happen after that? Will we stop at four-five medals only? Don’t we need more medals? Will we be happy with that much?”
