Lakshya Sen was 'garden mein ghoomne wala': Gavaskar defends Padukone, asks athletes to take more responsibility

Indian cricket great Sunil Gavaskar has lambasted those who questioned badminton legend Prakash Padukone’s timing after his critical comments on Indian players failing to clinch Olympic medals from winning positions. Padukone's comment came during the Paris Olympics 2024 and immediately after his trainee Lakshya Sen lost the bronze medal match to Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia.

Lakshya won the opening game 21-13 but went on to lose the next two 16-21, 11-21. and the bronze medal.

Lakshya had also lost the semi-final to eventual gold medallist Viktor Axelsen despite leading 20-17 in the first game and 7-0 in the second.

After the 22-year-old Indian shuttler’s loss in the bronze medal match, the former world no.1 Padukone asked athletes to take more responsibility for the results in an era where they are provided all the support.

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However, his comments did not sit well with everyone with Ashwini Ponnappa asking why coaches shouldn't take responsibility.

Padukone, however, has been supported by Gavaskar who in his column for Sportstar wrote: “He (Padukone) has always been reticent and publicity-shy, and he goes about his life with as much quiet as his famous dribble at the net. Therefore, his frank comments after the badminton disappointment came as a surprise to so many who have known him over the years to keep his counsel and not say much. It also stirred up a debate where the majority tried, as is the modern way, to take the side of a current would-be champion and not that of a past-proven world champion. Making excuses is where our country will win gold medals every single time, so the debate around his assessment was more about that than looking without tinted glasses at what he said.”

“And what did he say? He said that the players today get all the backing and facilities from their Federations and the government too. Therefore, they should take responsibility for their performances too. It was a point well-made and well-articulated too, without pointing fingers at anybody. Yet as it invariably happens in our country, which again is a champion at reading between so-called lines and imagining unintended poisoned arrows, we were quick to jump on him and denounce his comments rather than take the time to digest them and then come out with our comparatively uninformed views. If a player is not going to take responsibility for his performance, then who is? So what wrong did he say? Some say the timing was wrong, but it’s always better to say that when a player is searching for excuses and support rather than later. Yes, he could have said that privately in the changing room, but believe me, nothing has more impact on a player than a public rebuke. If he has the heart of a champion, then he will want to make the person who rebuked him eat his words. Otherwise, he will continue to flatter only to deceive.”

Lakshya was ‘garden mein ghoomne wala’

Gavaskar also went on to use Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma’s famous words to explain what he thought of Lakshya’s performance.

“To then see a 20-17 and 7-0 lead being squandered off in the semifinal and then lose the bronze medal match after winning the first game comfortably must have been gut-wrenching indeed. He, Vimal Kumar, the BAI and the government’s TOPS had done everything possible, but when it came to the crunch, Lakshya was, in the famous words of the Indian cricket team captain, “garden mein ghoomne wala.”