Leaving out a few of the best gamers like Sachin Tendulkar, Neeraj Chopra, MS Dhoni, Abhinav Bindra, the one Gavaskar named the finest sportsperson in India is…
Former Indian cricketer and captain Sunil Gavaskar gave a shock reply on his choose of finest sportsperson of India by stating that badminton participant Prakash Padukone is the ‘best sportsman India has ever produced’. Side lining a few of the best gamers like Sachin Tendulkar, two time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra, MS Dhoni, Abhinav Bindra, who can also be the primary ever particular person Indian gold medallist. More lately, in his Sportstar column, Gavaskar described Padukone as an exceptional shuttler and a real sportsman and went on to element his successes through the interval when badminton was dominated by formidable gamers from Denmark and China.
He mentioned, “In my humble opinion, and with the greatest respect to all other legends and champions from other sports, Prakash Padukone is the finest sportsperson that India has produced. It’s not just his incredible skill with which he conquered the badminton world time and again, but also his demeanour on and off the court that makes him so special in my eyes.”
Padukone rose to fame in 1980 when she turned the primary Indian to win the All England Championships and was ranked the world’s primary participant the identical 12 months. His different achievements embody a bronze medal on the 1983 IWF World Championship and gold medal on the 1981 IWF World Cup, apart from a gold medal on the 1978 Commonwealth Games.
Padukone stays lively within the sport up to now as the present coach of the Indian group and most lately helped Lakshya Sen to be the primary Indian male shuttler to achieve an Olympic semi-final. The help Padukone received from Gavaskar is a part of a newer acknowledgment of different athletes from completely different sporting disciplines in India, shifting the main target from cricket to different sports activities.
This perspective encourages the followers and the lovers of sports activities to embrace the skills which have come out of this nation, thus making the world perceive that it’s not solely in particular person video games that one can see expertise. As the 2024 Paris Olympics are nonetheless just a few years away, Padukone’s contribution will all the time be remembered by the Indian sporting neighborhood.
