Indian badminton star and Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal responded to a controversial remark by Kolkata Knight Riders' batter Angrish Raghuvanshi in a podcast on Friday, August 9.
Speaking on Shubhankar Mishra's podcast, Saina Nehwal hit back at criticism for her remark on popularity of cricket, stating that Jasprit Bumrah might not be able to pick up her serve.
"Dekhiye aap cricket kya marne ke liye khelenge kya? Mein Bumrah ke saath kyun khelna hai. Agar Bumrah mera saath badminton khelega toh mera smash mera serve nahi khel paaega. 300 kmph joh bhi hai." Nehwal said.
(Look, are you going to play cricket just to die? Why should I play with Bumrah? If Bumrah plays badminton with me, he won't be able to handle my smash or my serve. 300 kmph, whatever it is.)
The controversy began when Saina Nehwal echoed Chirag Shetty's sentiments of lack of recognition to badminton players after the Maharashtra Government awarded INR 10 crore cash rewards to Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Suryakumar Yadav for the T20 World Cup triumph.
Speaking on Nikhil Simha's podcast last month, the Indian badminton legend stated that it was unfair that cricket gets all the attention, demanding equal treatment for all the sports.
"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 believe skill is more important.
Nehwal's statement prompted Angrish Raghuvanshi to respond with a reference to Jasprit Bumrah.
"Let's see how she goes when Bumrah bowls 150 k's bumpers at her.' Raghuvanshi wrote on X.
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However, Angrish Raghuvasnhi had to delete the tweet and issued an apology, admitting that his joke was 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." KKR batter wroye on X.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders, which clinched the fourth IPL title this year. The 19-year-old had a decent IPL debut season, amusing 163 runs, including a fifty, at an average of 23.29 and a strike rate of 155.24 in 10 matches.
Raghuvanshi was part of the India U-19 team that won the 20220 U19 World Cup Final, defeating England in the final.
