Nothing against cricketers, treat all sports equally: Chirag Shetty

Indian badminton star slams Maharashtra govt for step-motherly treatment
JAIPUR: A day after Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal were felicitated by Maharashtra government for winning the T20 World Cup, Chirag Shetty lashed out at the authorities for giving badminton step-motherly treatment.
One of the chief architects of India's historic Thomas Cup triumph in 2022, Chirag came down heavily on the state govt for ignoring his achievement after the Indian badminton squad won the prestigious team championships stunning Indonesia 3-0 in Bangkok.
"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 told TOI on Saturday.
Mumbai's Chirag, who is preparing for the Paris Olympics with his doubles partner Satwiksairaj Rankireddy at the national camp in Hyderabad under experienced coach Mathias Boe of Denmark, made it clear that he has nothing against cricket or cricketers.
"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," said the 27-year-old, a recipient of Khel Ratna Award.
The Maharashtra government announced a cash prize of Rs 11 crore for the T20 World Cup-winning Indian team on Friday.
Chirag and Satwik were the first Indian men's doubles pair to reach world No. 1 ranking a few months ago. The ace duo was instrumental in guiding the Indian badminton team to several memorable victories at the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympics besides winning many BWF World Tour titles.