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Kolkata Knight Riders’ and 2022 India U19 cricketer Angkrish Raghuvanshi released an apology statement on social media following his ‘disrespectful’ remarks in reply to Saina Nehwal’s comment about cricket.
The controversy that got cricket fans on social media up in arms started after a clip of Saina Nehwal’s “unfiltered” interview emerged on social media, where she suggested that every sport deserves equal recognition in the country.
Following India’s victory at the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) had issued the team a cash reward of Rs 125 Crores. Not only that, but the Maharashtra government had also announced cash prizes amounting to Rs 11 Crores for all players from the state.
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However, Indian badminton player Chirag Shetty, who was part of the team that won the Thomas Cup in 2022, questioned the Maharashtra government as they had failed to recognize their win at the Thomas Cup in Bangkok, which he implied was “equivalent to the World Cup” for badminton.
Former World No 1 said, “Everyone wants to know what Saina is doing, what wrestlers and boxers are doing, what Neeraj Chopra is doing. Everyone knows these sportspersons, because we have consistently performed, and we have been on the newspapers. I did that, I feel it’s like a dream that I did it in India, where there isn’t even a sporting culture.”
“Sometimes, I feel bad that cricket gets all the attention. The thing about cricket is… if you see badminton, basketball, tennis, and other sports are so tough physically. You don’t even have time to pick up the shuttle and serve, you are like… you are breathing so hard. A game like cricket gets so much of attention where I personally believe skill is more important,” she added
Saina Nehwal Stoodup and Spoken Some Harsh Facts 🔥 pic.twitter.com/gaF9fSROXc
The 19-year-old Raghuvanshi, who was part of India’s 2022 U-19 World Cup-winning squad, was quick to reply to Nehwal’s comment.
He posted on his X (formerly twitter) account, a tweet which he was equally quick to delete, which said: “Let’s see how she goes when Bumrah bowls 150k’s bumpers at her head.” with a facepalm emoji.
A KKR player – Angkrish Raghuvanshi posted this after Saina Nehwal spoke about cricket, but quickly deleted the tweet and apologized. pic.twitter.com/1tqpeXnsil
While many Indian cricket fans supported, liked and shared his tweet, there were others who perceived his comment to be disrespectful to an Olympian. In 2012, Nehwal became the first Indian player to win a Olympic medal in badminton when she clinched bronze in women’s singles at the London Summer Games.
Raghuvasnshi did indeed apologise to the Indian badminton star, Nehwal, saying that he had realised that the comment which he considered to be a “joke” was rather “immature”.
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.
While a lot of fans were sympathetic to his apology, many cricket fans were of the opinion that there was no need for him to apologise as he had “said nothing wrong”.
A X user noted that the relatively large following of cricket compared to other sports in India, was the reason why the youngster made such an arrogant remark: “That’s what the big fan following of Cricket in this country does to these Cricketers, even someone like this guy who has no career has the audacity to make such a comment on a legend like Saina just because he’s half decent at playing Cricket.”
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Saino Zachariah is a content producer for The Sporting News’ India edition.
