NEW DELHI: Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar voiced his support for badminton legend Prakash Padukone after he called for players to take responsibility and accountability following Lakshya Sen‘s defeat in the bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics last week.
Lakshya let slip an opening game advantage and an 8-3 lead in the second, ultimately losing 21-13, 16-21, 11-21 to Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in a 71-minute match.Lakshya succumbing to the pressure left Padukone miffed as the former All England Open champion said it’s high time that players learn to withstand pressure, become accountable and start delivering results after receiving support.
However, Padukone’s remarks sparked division within the badminton community, with doubles player Ashwini Ponnappa stating that his comments were equivalent to “throwing the player under the bus.”
But Padukone got the backing from none other than Gavaskar, who said our country has mastered the art of making excuses and would win gold medals every time if it were a competitive discipline.
“He has always been reticent and publicity-shy, and he goes about his life with as much quiet as his famous dribble at the net. Therefore, his frank comments after the badminton disappointment came as a surprise to so many who have known him over the years to keep his counsel and not say much.
“It also stirred up a debate where the majority tried, as is the modern way, to take the side of a current would-be champion and not that of a past-proven world champion. Making excuses is where our country will win gold medals every single time, so the debate around his assessment was more about that than looking without tinted glasses at what he said,” Gavaskar wrote in a column for Sportstar.
“And what did he say? He said that the players today get all the backing and facilities from their Federations and the government too. Therefore, they should take responsibility for their performances too. It was a point well-made and well-articulated too, without pointing fingers at anybody. Yet as it invariably happens in our country, which again is a champion at reading between so-called lines and imagining unintended poisoned arrows, we were quick to jump on him and denounce his comments rather than take the time to digest them and then come out with our comparatively uninformed views.
“If a player is not going to take responsibility for his performance, then who is? So what wrong did he say? Some say the timing was wrong, but it’s always better to say that when a player is searching for excuses and support rather than later. Yes, he could have said that privately in the changing room, but believe me, nothing has more impact on a player than a public rebuke. If he has the heart of a champion, then he will want to make the person who rebuked him eat his words. Otherwise, he will continue to flatter only to deceive,” Gavaskar added.
Gavaskar drew a parallel between Lakshya’s performance and a recent comment made by the Indian cricket team Rohit Sharma. He had previously used the phrase “Garden Main Ghoomne Vala” to describe a certain situation.
“To then see a 20-17 and 7-0 lead being squandered off in the semifinal and then lose the bronze medal match after winning the first game comfortably must have been gut-wrenching indeed. He, Vimal Kumar, the BAI and the government’s TOPS had done everything possible, but when it came to the crunch, Lakshya was, in the famous words of the Indian cricket team captain,” garden mein ghoomne wala,” wrote Gavaskar.
“For those who watched both the semifinal and the bronze medal matches, it did appear that Lakshya had lost his trend of thought and concentration in the way he looked at his racquet as he sipped from his water bottle in between points or at the changeovers. I could be completely wrong, but on TV, it looked like a blank expression, and that’s usually a sign that the mind has wandered.
“Concentration and focus are things that no coach or trainer can ever teach. It can be developed over the years by the athlete by observing other champions and having an inner resolve, but there’s no specific programme for it. Yes, mind trainers are around, but they can only do so much and not more. It’s got to be within the athlete,” Gavaskar further stated.
Lakshya let slip an opening game advantage and an 8-3 lead in the second, ultimately losing 21-13, 16-21, 11-21 to Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in a 71-minute match.Lakshya succumbing to the pressure left Padukone miffed as the former All England Open champion said it’s high time that players learn to withstand pressure, become accountable and start delivering results after receiving support.
However, Padukone’s remarks sparked division within the badminton community, with doubles player Ashwini Ponnappa stating that his comments were equivalent to “throwing the player under the bus.”
But Padukone got the backing from none other than Gavaskar, who said our country has mastered the art of making excuses and would win gold medals every time if it were a competitive discipline.
“He has always been reticent and publicity-shy, and he goes about his life with as much quiet as his famous dribble at the net. Therefore, his frank comments after the badminton disappointment came as a surprise to so many who have known him over the years to keep his counsel and not say much.
“It also stirred up a debate where the majority tried, as is the modern way, to take the side of a current would-be champion and not that of a past-proven world champion. Making excuses is where our country will win gold medals every single time, so the debate around his assessment was more about that than looking without tinted glasses at what he said,” Gavaskar wrote in a column for Sportstar.
“And what did he say? He said that the players today get all the backing and facilities from their Federations and the government too. Therefore, they should take responsibility for their performances too. It was a point well-made and well-articulated too, without pointing fingers at anybody. Yet as it invariably happens in our country, which again is a champion at reading between so-called lines and imagining unintended poisoned arrows, we were quick to jump on him and denounce his comments rather than take the time to digest them and then come out with our comparatively uninformed views.
“If a player is not going to take responsibility for his performance, then who is? So what wrong did he say? Some say the timing was wrong, but it’s always better to say that when a player is searching for excuses and support rather than later. Yes, he could have said that privately in the changing room, but believe me, nothing has more impact on a player than a public rebuke. If he has the heart of a champion, then he will want to make the person who rebuked him eat his words. Otherwise, he will continue to flatter only to deceive,” Gavaskar added.
Gavaskar drew a parallel between Lakshya’s performance and a recent comment made by the Indian cricket team Rohit Sharma. He had previously used the phrase “Garden Main Ghoomne Vala” to describe a certain situation.
“To then see a 20-17 and 7-0 lead being squandered off in the semifinal and then lose the bronze medal match after winning the first game comfortably must have been gut-wrenching indeed. He, Vimal Kumar, the BAI and the government’s TOPS had done everything possible, but when it came to the crunch, Lakshya was, in the famous words of the Indian cricket team captain,” garden mein ghoomne wala,” wrote Gavaskar.
“For those who watched both the semifinal and the bronze medal matches, it did appear that Lakshya had lost his trend of thought and concentration in the way he looked at his racquet as he sipped from his water bottle in between points or at the changeovers. I could be completely wrong, but on TV, it looked like a blank expression, and that’s usually a sign that the mind has wandered.
“Concentration and focus are things that no coach or trainer can ever teach. It can be developed over the years by the athlete by observing other champions and having an inner resolve, but there’s no specific programme for it. Yes, mind trainers are around, but they can only do so much and not more. It’s got to be within the athlete,” Gavaskar further stated.
