Neither Virat Kohli nor Sachin Tendulkar as Sunil Gavaskar reveals his choice for India's 'finest sportsperson'

India has seen several sporting heroes over the years, and the sportspersons have excelled in their respective fields. While Sachin Tendulkar became synonymous with cricket, Abhinav Bindra and Neeraj Chopra clinched the Gold Medal for India in the Olympics. Moreover, the javelinist, Neeraj is being termed as the greatest sportsperson of India after he became the only Indian to grab two Olympic medals for India with a silver medal in Paris Olympics 2024.  

Among the ranks of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Dhyan Chand, Sunil Gavaskar has named Prakash Padukone as the greatest sportsperson of India. Padukone was a former Badminton Player and became world number in 1980. He also became the first Indian to win the All-England Open Badminton Championships in 1980. He was also awarded Arjuna Award in 1972 and Padma Shri in 1982 by the Indian government.

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"In my humble opinion, and with the greatest respect to all other legends and champions from other sports, Prakash Padukone is the finest sportsperson that India has produced. It's not just his incredible skill with which he conquered the badminton world time and again, but also his demeanor on and off the court that makes him so special in my eyes,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

"Don't forget he did it at a time when a point could be won only on your serve and not as it is now where it can be won on the opponent's serve. At a time when the Danes and Chinese were unbeatable, Prakash was sending them packing, barely conceding seven to 10 points and occasionally none at all," he added.

Padukone serving Indian Badminton with coaching stint

Adding to the achievements of the Indian Badminton legend, he won the Bronze Medal at the World Championships in 1983. He also bagged a Gold Medal in the 1981 World Cup after he secured Gold at the 1978 Commonwealth Games. The 69-year-old is currently shaping the future of Indian Badminton and also acted as coach of the Indian Badminton team which traveled to Paris for the Olympics 2024.