'Jasprit Bumrah won't be able to take my smash' - Saina Nehwal destroys KKR star over distasteful comments

India badminton legend Saina Nehwal cleared her verdict on her previous comments about cricket not being as tough as badminton and other sports. She also gave a reply to Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who pointed out her comment and stated how she would play Jasprit Bumrah's 150 kph bumper.

India badminton star Saina Nehwal recently came under scanner following her comments on a podcast. She stated that cricket gets all the attention in India but other sports badminton, basketball, and tennis, and other sports are so tougher physically than cricket, which requires skills.

With Saina Nehwal calling cricket less tough than Badminton and other sports, young Kolkata Knight Riders player Angkrish Raghuvanshi stole the limelight with his reply, which included Jasprit Bumrah's name. The young batter took to his Twitter account and stated: "Let's see how she goes when Jasprit Bumrah bowls 150k's bumper at her head."

Angkrish Raghuvanshi, however, later deleted his comment but was criticized a lot for his remarks. He later admitted that he made the remarks but it was an immature joke. He also said that he had realized his mistake and apologized for what he said.

With Saina Nehwal also under the pump for comments, she cleared the air and claimed that both cricket and badminton are tough sports despite being at risk of death in cricket. She stressed that all sports are tough and everyone should have the fitness to play at this level. While speaking on Shubankar Mishra's podcast, she explained:

"Will you play cricket to die? First of all. This is not my point. We are not talking about dying because death is reaching a very extreme stage. You are not going to the army and fighting somewhere. This is a game, to win or lose the game, you are playing to make your country proud. So here I will not go on that.

"Badminton is not only the sport which is the toughest sport. I am not saying that this game is the toughest. I included tennis, swimming and all the tough sports. I have also mentioned the tough ones. Do you think that without being tough it will be fun to play cricket? Isn't football tough? All the sports are tough. I mean that the game comparatively when you are batting it's more skill-based. I didn't say that if you don't have fitness how will you play at that level?"

If Jasprit Bumrah plays badminton with me maybe he won't be able to take my smash - Saina Nehwal

Saina Nehwal further went on to give a thrashing reply to Angkrish Raghuvanshi as well. She stated that if she had played cricket for 8 years then she would've played Jasprit Bumrah and if the pacer played badminton he won't be able to take her smash. She stated:

"How will you become Virat at that level? How will you become Rohit Sharma? So many players have to become like them. They can't. Only a few of them are like that. But I just feel that it's more of a skill-based sport. And bowlers, I agree. I won't die there. Why would I face Jasprit Bumrah anyways? If I had been playing for 8 years maybe I would have answered Jasprit Bumrah.

"If Jasprit Bumrah plays badminton with me maybe he won't be able to take my smash. We should not fight with ourselves in our own country for these things. That's what I want to say. Every sport is best in its place. But I want to say give value to other sports as well. Otherwise, where will we get sporting culture from? And cricket, Bollywood will always be our focus," she concluded.