Fans harshly criticized young Angkrish Raghuvanshi of the Kolkata Knight Riders on social media when he attempted to make fun of Saina Nehwal, the rising star in badminton from India. In 2024, Raghuvanshi made his IPL debut and had a standout batting performance. He scored 163 runs at a strike percentage of 155.24 in 10 innings. Following Nehwal’s assertion that players in sports like badminton, tennis, and basketball are physically harder than cricketers, Raghuvanshi made his comment. She also chastised Indian supporters for their unwavering devotion to cricket over other sports.
Everyone is curious about what boxers, wrestlers, and Saina are doing, as well as what Neeraj Chopra is doing. These athletes are well-known to everybody because of our continuous performances and media coverage. Saina stated on the Nikhil Simha podcast, “I did that, and I feel like it’s like a dream that I did it in India, where there isn’t even a sporting culture.”
Saina Nehwal Stoodup and Spoken Some Harsh Facts 🔥 pic.twitter.com/gaF9fSROXc
— Voice of Hindus (@Warlock_Shabby) July 11, 2024
“Sometimes, I feel like cricket is the center of attention. The problem with cricket is that, as you can see, the physical demands of badminton, basketball, tennis, and other sports are very high. You are breathing so hard that you don’t even have time to take up the shuttle and serve. Cricket is a game that attracts a lot of attention, but in my opinion, talent is more significant.”
Angkrish Raghuvanshi reacted to X (the previous Twitter platform) to express his disapproval of Nehwal’s remarks, writing, “Let’s see how she goes when Bumrah bowls 150k’s bumper at her head.”
— Out Of Context Cricket (@GemsOfCricket) July 12, 2024
Later, the KKR player took down the tweet and apologized to Nehwal. “I apologize to everyone; I meant my remarks as a joke, but looking back, I think it was a really immature joke,” he wrote after that. I really apologize and acknowledge my error.”
I’m sorry everyone, I meant my remarks as a joke, looking back I think it was a really immature joke. I realize my mistake and I sincerely apologize.
— Angkrish Raghuvanshi (@angkrish10) July 12, 2024
Nonetheless, there have been other instances where athletes have expressed their views on the lack of awareness of alternative sports.
Prior to this, Indian badminton player Chirag Shetty had criticized the Maharashtra government for recognizing the T20 World Cup champions rather than him following India’s victory in the 2022 Thomas Cup.
