An Open Letter to Honorable Prakash Padukone

Dear Padukone Sir,

I am a huge fan of yours and have immense respect for your accomplishments and contributions to our nation. I never thought I would muster up the courage to write this letter, but my conscience has driven me to do so after much internal deliberation.

I saw your video message to the press following Lakshya’s bronze medal loss, and I felt it was not appropriate. I do not fully agree with your views. As someone with not even a fraction of your accomplishments, my opinion may not carry much weight, but I feel compelled to express my thoughts.

To me (and most of other passionate sports fans in my circle), your message in the media appeared: a) ill-timed, b) ill-conceived, c) lacking empathy, and d) against the spirit of teamwork.

When a 22-year-old athlete loses two of the most important matches of his life within 24 hours, the last thing he needs is public criticism, especially from someone he likely idolizes and considers a teammate. It is not hard to imagine what Lakshya felt after hearing your words. At one of the worst moments of his sporting career, he needed support, not public censure.

You stated, “players cannot keep asking for more and more,” “maybe players are not working hard enough,” and “players have to take responsibility and go out and deliver.” These remarks unfairly suggest that the players did not train hard enough or took the facilities provided for granted. We may not know all the details of how the players train or behave outside the games, but from what we’ve seen of Sindhu, Lakshya, Prannoy, and Sat-Chi, it never seemed like they were slacking off. Most of us felt they were giving their absolute best. Lakshya put up a mighty fight against Viktor Axelsen, Christie, and Zia—it just wasn’t his day. That’s how sports work, and you would know this better than most.

You also mentioned that if Lakshya had lost comfortably to Christie, it would be a different issue, and that he must take responsibility and work harder. While athletes, of course, aim to improve and learn from their experiences, I was saddened by the lack of empathy in your statements. If you and Mr. Vimal expect Lakshya to grow from this experience, there are more constructive ways to encourage him.

Additionally, you said, “players need to deliver when you ask for certain things,” “there are so few stars, so if we do not give them something, it will become an issue,” and “it’s high time that players also need to take responsibility. You cannot hold the government and federation responsible.” But aren’t the players as much a part of the team as the support staff and the enabling institutions like the government and federations? When we win, the whole team wins, and when we lose, the whole team loses. So why should only the players be held accountable for the loss? I’ve tried to rationalize your comments, but I find it difficult to agree.

I could continue, but I believe I have conveyed the essence of my concerns. I continue to hold immense respect for you, and if I have the good fortune of having you read this letter, please consider it as an emotional outburst from a passionate Indian sports fan.

Signing off with eternal optimism, I sincerely hope that you have had high-quality conversations with ‘your’ team behind closed doors and that the choice of words and timing was more thoughtful than in this brief media message.

Yours sincerely,
A passionate Indian sports fan