What Srikanth's emergence into a sporting hero teaches us?

A new sporting hero has emerged. Not one, who comes from the upper echelons of cricket but from a sport which was developed in British India, became a hobby sports before emerging as India's most trusted discipline at the Olympics in the last decade.

For two weeks now, badminton has trumped cricket probably for the first time in history and the engineer of this turnaround is 24-year-old Kidambi Srikanth.

Last two Sundays, Srikanth stood on the podium with the Indonesia and Australia Open crowns shining bright in his hands and these were moments that this country had starved for many decades. The first Indian to win back-to-back Super Series titles, his fourth title -- a feat unmatched by any Indian men.

Life will hopefully not remain the same for the Andra Pradesh lad anymore. He will be rightly hailed for his achievement, bestowed with accolades including cash prizes from different quarters. Hopefully he will earn a few sponsorship deals and whopping contracts and between all this Srikanth would probably just think how important but futile at the same time all this hullaballoo is in the larger context. 

Perhaps, thoughts of him quietly landing in India and rushing away back home last year after the Rio Olympics would still be fresh in his mind. All the glitz and glamour now will probably heal the pain of that heart-wrenching loss to Lin Dan in the quarterfinals but it won't erase the dent, not until he achieves his dreams of winning a medal at Tokyo. 

If you scratch the surface, you will find a story of mental fortitude. In a short four-year career in senior circuit, Srikanth has seen both the highs and lows. After bursting onto the scene with a stunning win that demystified the legendary Super Dan at 2014 China Super Series Premier and then finding a place in the heart of his countrymen with a win at the India Super Series in 2015, he went through a run of poor form. 

He qualified for Olympics but saw his dream crash after coming within touching distance of a medal. Worse happened. He suffered a stress fracture in his right ankle and spent three months on the sidelines. With his ankle in bandage, he decided to work on his upper body. He spent hours with his physio and trainers, doing what he was in his hands. His ranking dropped. From the high of World No 3, he had sunk to the 30s by the time he had made a comeback at the Premier Badminton League. 

He had a decent outing at PBL but that didn’t translate into success in international circuit. He lost early at Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold. He went back, worked hard and then came looking for redemption at India Super Series but he crashed out in the opening round, leaving him stunned and silent. He hardly could make out what had happened, finding it difficult to explain his loss to the reporters at Siri Fort stadium.

But one of the rare traits that defines a champion is the never-say-die-attitude and his loss at the Olympics and those two weeks when he had shut himself from the world had left him little detached from both win and loss. His equanimity in success and failure was tested in the last two weeks and he came out in flying colours. 

His win over Olympic champion Chen Long and his compatriot and friend H S Prannoy's stunning victory over Lee Chong Wei and Chen Long showed the world and more importantly to Indian shuttler that they are not unbreakable. 

Perhaps, this is what Indian badminton have gained in the last two weeks, the confidence to go all out against whosoever comes in the way and remain unscathed by both success and failure.

Perhaps Srikanth would go on to win a world championship in August or the All England Championship next year or maybe he won’t but one thing for sure the day is not far when an Indian will certainly achieve all these. It’s time to grab our place under the sun.