Indian Badminton needs to handle player absence cautiously

Nehwal chose to give the National Badminton Championship a miss

A sport is a brilliant phenomenon that mirrors life. It’s as appealing as art and soothing as music. Be it real or virtual, it lies personified in every one of us. Seeming quite easy to be an amateur, a game’s intensity is felt when one tries to carve a niche out. We commons find watching the best players battle for a title very entertaining, completely oblivious of the myriad barriers they break to become the best.

Sports personalities epitomize the game they play and have it dedicated. They decipher the greatest obscurities involved and feel it in the marrow to pursue the sport as a vocation for life. They toil day in and day out to practice and get improvised. They make sacrifices and sacrifices make them. The way to success is more complex than the sport itself is.

The path of achievement can be thought of as a huge mountain where the ones incipient are seen struggling at the bottom and the successful are found vying atop. To elicit the potential out of budding players, the experienced have to give a helping hand.

The opportunity for the growing players to interact with high profiles will make a huge impact on their future and helps them climb the hill. This concern made superstars like Sachin Tendukar and Rahul Dravid play the Ranji Trophy.

The elite participating in domestic events like the Ranji Trophy and National Games leads to a synergy that inspires and kindles confidence in the learning lot. It makes the tournament spectacular thus pulling audience and helps retain the importance of rustic side of the game. Metaphorically, a national event when experts take part is like a classroom interaction where in a scholar educates students and instills an ardent desire in them.

In spite of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) making participation mandatory, international icons like Saina Nehwal and some of her contemporaries dodging the National Games is a matter of concern that has to be pondered over.

This, in a way benefits young talented players by creating an opportunity to clinch a title but the privilege of confronting greatest players of the country, which is more resourceful is nonetheless lost. A national event, when frequently smashed out of the repertoire of greatest shuttlers of India, in a sense loses its lustre. Saina has been skipping the nationals for the past six years.

Dhoni has not appeared in the Ranji Trophy for a very long time. With more global tournaments such as the Indian Badminton League and the Indian Premier League gaining acceptance, local events are superseded.

Some badminton players are accused of citing a feigned injury, the reason for skipping nationals. A serious offence like this has to be investigated and the culprits reprimanded. Meanwhile, the controlling body has to pay heed to the grievances of players.

A tightly packed schedule challenges their endurance. With more than one tournament a month, players get exhausted.

The governing authority has to take a diplomatic stand and come out with shrewd solutions to help players prioritize their tight schedule. The issue has to be bridled by the BAI effectively and it has to make sure that players are not loaded. Moving the court for a matter like this antagonizes the authority more. There is a need for setting rules in a way that all concerns are equally addressed. Suing jeopardizes the players’ integrity and is not a key to solve the problem.