Young Indian cricketer Angkrish Raghuvanshi has apologized for making fun of star badminton player Saina Nehwal. In a viral video, Nehwal talked about how other sports like badminton and tennis are becoming more popular in India, a country without a strong sports culture. She expressed pride in the rise of Olympic athletes and mentioned feeling bad when cricket gets more attention than other sports.

Nehwal also compared the physical demands of other sports with cricket, saying that sports like badminton and tennis are tougher. Raghuvanshi didn’t like her comments and mocked her by suggesting she try facing fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah’s 150 kmph bouncers.

A few hours later, Raghuvanshi deleted his post on social media platform X and apologized, saying his remarks were meant as a joke.

Raghuvanshi’s apology for mocking remarks

“I’m sorry everyone, I meant my remarks as a joke, looking back I think it was a really immature joke. I realize my mistake and I sincerely apologize,” wrote Raghuvanshi on his X(twitter) account.

Saina Nehwal’s comments on cricket

“I did that, I feel it’s like a dream sometimes. I did it in India because there’s no sporting culture in India. Sometimes, we feel so bad that cricket gets that attention. What I have one thing about cricket is, if you see badminton, basketball, tennis and of course the other sports are so tough physically. You don’t even have the time to pick up the shuttle and serve. You’re like (imitates panting), 20 seconds of run you just breathing so hard. And the game like cricket gets that kind of attention where I think personally skill is more important,” Nehwal said in the video.

Raghuvanshi’s achievements in the Under-19 World Cup

Raghuvanshi, born in Delhi, became well-known after being India’s top run-scorer in the Under-19 World Cup 2022. The 20-year-old scored 278 runs in six innings, averaging 46.33, with one hundred and one fifty.