"Jasprit Bumrah Won't Be Able To Take My Smash": Saina Nehwal On Comparisons With Cricket
Saina Nehwal recently claimed that sports like badminton, tennis, basketball are physically tougher than cricketers.
Young Kolkata Knight Riders batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi recently came under scrutiny for mocking Indian badminton star Saina Nehwal in a now-deleted social media post. Raghuvanshi's statement came after Nehwal claimed that sports like badminton, tennis, basketball are physically tougher than cricketers, while also criticising the fans for always prioritising the gentleman's game over the other sports. Reacting to her comments, Raghuvanshi had taken a jibe at Nehwal on social media platform.
In a post on X, which has now been deleted, Raghuvanshi had written: "Let's see how she goes when Bumrah bowls 150k's bumper at her head."
In an indirect response to Raghuvanshi's criticism of her, Nehwal has now claimed that star pacer Jasprit Bumrah won't be able to handle her smash.
"How will you become Virat at that level? How will you become Rohit Sharma? So many players have to become like them. They can't. Only a few of them are like that. But I just feel that it's more of a skill-based sport. And bowlers, I agree. I won't die there. Why would I face Jasprit Bumrah anyways? If I had been playing for 8 years maybe I would have answered Jasprit Bumrah," Nehwal said on Shubhankar Mishra's podcast.
"If Jasprit Bumrah plays badminton with me maybe he won't be able to take my smash. We should not fight with ourselves in our own country for these things. That's what I want to say. Every sport is best in its place. But I want to say give value to other sports as well. Otherwise, where will we get sporting culture from? And cricket, Bollywood will always be our focus," the 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist added.
On India's struggles to win medals at Olympics, Nehwal claimed that players from other sports don't the same level of facilities as cricketers.
Meanwhile, Raghuvanshi made his IPL debut in 2024 and had a memorable outing with the bat. In 10 innings, he scored 163 runs at a strike rate of 155.24, helping KKR end their 10-year title drought.
Jasprit Bumrah