Angkrish Raghuvanshi, a player for the Kolkata Knight Riders cricket team, recently faced criticism for making fun of Indian badminton player Saina Nehwal in a social media post that has since been removed. Raghuvanshi’s comment followed Nehwal’s statement that sports like badminton, tennis, and basketball are more physically demanding than cricket, and she also criticized cricket fans for always favoring cricket over other sports. In response to Nehwal’s remarks, Raghuvanshi made a sarcastic comment on a social media platform.
In a now-deleted post on X, Raghuvanshi wrote: “Let’s see how she handles a fast ball from Bumrah aimed at her head.”
In a subtle reply to Raghuvanshi’s comment, Nehwal has now said that even the fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah wouldn’t be able to handle her powerful smash.
“How can you reach Virat’s level? How can you become like Rohit Sharma? Many players try to be like them but can’t. Only a few manage it. But I think cricket is more about skills. And I agree with that for bowlers too. I’m not worried about facing Jasprit Bumrah. Why would I face him anyway? If I had been playing cricket for 8 years, maybe I could talk about facing Jasprit Bumrah,” Nehwal said in Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast.
“If Jasprit Bumrah played badminton with me, maybe he wouldn’t be able to handle my smash. We shouldn’t argue with each other in our own country over these things. That’s what I want to say. Each sport has its own value. But I also want to say that we should appreciate other sports too. Otherwise, where will our sports culture come from? Cricket and Bollywood will always be important to us,” the 2012 London Olympics bronze medalist added.
Regarding India’s challenges in winning Olympic medals, Nehwal stated that athletes in other sports do not have the same quality of facilities as cricket players.
In the meantime, Raghuvanshi had his first appearance in the IPL in 2024 and had an impressive performance with the bat. Over 10 innings, he scored 163 runs with a strike rate of 155.24, contributing to KKR’s victory after a 10-year gap without a championship.
