'I am sorry': KKR Player Publicly Apologises After Sharing Distasteful 'Joke' On Saina Nehwal

India's Star shuttler Saina Nehwal recently discerned about the unequal attention cricket receives in India compared to other sports. She expressed her concern over the lack of a sports culture in the country, acknowledging that other athletes sometimes "feel bad" about the vast disparity. During a podcast, the Olympic bronze medalist and former world no. 1 singles player suggested that sports like badminton and tennis are "physically" more taxing than cricket, where individual skills are more emphasized.

“…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,” Saina said on Nikhil Simha podcast.

Upon noting her views, KKR player Angkrish Raghuvanshi countered her by contemplating where she could handle the bouncers of Jasprit Bumrah.

“Let’s see how she goes when Bumrah bowls 150k’s bumpers at her head,” Raghuvanshi wrote while sharing the post on X (formerly Twitter).

Sometime later after posting it, the cricketer admitted that he made a mistake, labelling his thoughts as a joke and consequently apologised.

“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,” Raghuvanshi posted.