Saina Nehwal on cricket vs badminton debate: ‘Jasprit Bumrah can’t handle my 300kmph smash’

Saina Nehwal believes that cricket is riskier than badminton. However, the ace badminton player does not think people choose sports based on their danger level.

Saina made the comments during a conversation with Shubhankar Mishra on a podcast. Nehwal then remarked about handling Jasprit Bumrah's bowling without training. She said it was similar to a cricketer handling a 300kmph badminton smash from her.

Saina was told that people had died while playing cricket, indicating the dangerous nature of the game. However, badminton doesn’t pose such challenges for its players, the anchor said.

“Who plays cricket to get killed? That’s not my point. Nobody is talking about killing or getting killed. You’re taking it to an extreme level. You’re not joining the army and going into a war. This is a game, which you play to win, lose and make your country proud,” Saina Nehwal said.

“Why should I get killed by facing Bumrah’s ball? I could have played him well if I had played cricket since I was 8 years old. If Bumrah plays badminton with me, he may be unable to handle my 300kmph smash,” the former number 1 added.

“We should not fight over such things in our own country. I’m asking people to appreciate the value of other games, not just cricket. How else shall we create a sporting environment across the country?” she said while accusing cricket and Bollywood of being the only points of interest for Indians.

Reference to KKR youngster

Many believe that the discussion about Jasprit Bumrah is not random. They think it directly references to what Angkrish Raghuvanshi posted on social media about a month back. The young batter playing for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), took a sharp jab at Saina Nehwal on X (formerly Twitter).

“Let's see how she goes when Bumrah bowls 150k's bumpers at her head,” the IPL player wrote in a now-deleted tweet.

Raghuvanshi’s social media post was apparently a reaction to Saina’s earlier comment about cricket being less challenging than other games like badminton, basketball and tennis.