Vimal Kumar ‘Disagrees’ With Pullela Gopichand; Says Middle-Class Should Be Encouraged

India Is Not A Big Sporting Nation

We are not a big sporting nation. We have a long way to go. If you look at the 1983 World Cup, when India won there was a lot of hype but again for the sport to stabilize and money to come in it took 20 years. So barring cricket, in other disciplines, we are making progress, and showing good signs.

Sports Is Not Only For The Rich

I cannot agree with the view that sport is only for the rich and only then you can take it as a profession because if you’re scared of failure then you cannot succeed. We should provide the opportunity, whether they make it or not, it is tough luck. You go through failures, you learn a lot through sport, and a person he Gopi knows that.

Not Everyone Makes It To The Top Level

But maybe his point was for the top level because we all know that not everyone makes it to the top. Some might play for the district, some might play for the school, some might play for the university, and so on. So, we have to keep providing opportunities. 

Indian Sports Need More Investment

We talk about INR 3000 crore or 4000 as a sports budget but that’s nothing. Gopichand is at a level where he can talk to the finance minister about investment.

Whoever has come up in sport is from a tier-2 or tier-3 city whether it is MS Dhoni or someone else. No one was given anything on a platter.

Middle-Class Are Allowing Children To Choose A Career

Nowadays, the middle class are more affluent. They’re allowing children to participate in art and sport, you pursue whatever you want. When you have that side of a mindset in the country we need to encourage that. In general, health is also getting better via sports. That’s not the way to talk about sport (like Gopichand) did. 

On Elite Badminton Players Looking For Extra Source Of Income

When I played the sport, I lived in England for 10 years. So at that time, I was with the bank where they paid. People used to ask ‘you still get paid?’. Of course, there were no resources for me, I was struggling but the bank gave me that opportunity. Not many countries will give a job like that. There’s no guarantee for anything.

We need to invest more money in sport. I get disappointed because not enough money is invested in sport. Because we are looking at the 2036 Olympic Games we need more corporates to be investing. 

As told to Samrat Chakraborty in a telephonic interview.