The Maharashtra government last week felicitated four Indian cricketers who were part of the T20 World Cup winning team. India captain Rohit Sharma, star batters Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal were all honoured by the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government. However, Indian shuttler Chirag Shetty has lashed out at the government for not treating all sports equally, and highlighted how he was not honoured for being part of the Thomas Cup-winning Indian team in 2022.
Chirag, who was crowned World no. 1 in the BWF men's doubles ranking last year along with his partner Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, insisted that while he has nothing against the cricketers, the government should treat all sports equally.
"Thomas Cup is equivalent to winning the World Cup. I was part of the Indian badminton team which won its maiden title, shocking champions Indonesia in the final. I was the only Maharashtra player in the Indian team. When the govt can honour World Cup-winning cricket stars, they should have also recognised my efforts. Government should treat any other sport equally," Chirag was quoted as saying by Times of India.
Chirag also highlighted how India had never made it to the semi-finals of Thomas Cup before 2022.
"I have nothing against cricket. We all badminton players watched the T20 World Cup final live on TV and celebrated enthusiastically. We are happy and proud about their sensational win against South Africa in the final. Similarly, we had also achieved something remarkable a couple of years ago, but the state government did not even felicitate me, leave apart from giving any cash rewards. Before 2022, the Indian badminton team had never even reached the semifinals but we created history by winning the title," he added.
Chirag and Satwik will take part in this year's Summer Olympics in Paris, with the pair touted to win a medal for the country.
The pair won the French Open and Thailand Open this year after reaching the finals at the Malaysian Super 750 and India Super 750.