 "Chirag Shetty blasts Maharashtra government for felicitating cricketers, 'not recognising' his efforts")
Indian badminton star Chirag Shetty has lashed out at the Maharashtra government for giving priority to cricket over other sports. Shetty, who played a big role in helping India win a historic Thomas Cup in 2022, questioned why the Maharashtra government failed to recognise his efforts but felicitated members of the Indian cricket team for winning the T20 World Cup.
Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma besides Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, and Yashasvi Jaiswal were felicitated by the Maharashtra government on Friday.
“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 said in an interview with the Times of India.
Shetty has formed a deadly men’s doubles partnership with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and last year they became the first Indian pair to be ranked No.1 in the world, across all three doubles categories in badminton.
Shetty, a recipient of the Khel Ratna Award, added that he has nothing against the cricketers but the state government needs to treat all sports equally.
“I have nothing against cricket. In fact, 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 giving any cash rewards. Before 2022, the Indian badminton team had never even reached the semifinals but we created history by winning the title.”
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