Gavaskar lauds India's historic Thomas Cup win: 'This could be 1983 moment for Badminton'

The Indian men's badminton team scripted history in Bangkok on Sunday, triumphing in the Thomas Cup 2022 in fashion, thereby bolstering the nation's prospects in the sport further. The India vs Indonesia final witnessed India lifting the Thomas Cup trophy, dominating powerhouse Indonesia by 3-0 margin. With social media flooded with congratulatory wishes following the triumph, former India Cricketer Sunil Gavaskar also lauded the Badminton team and compared their triumph to the 1983 World Cup, which saw the Indian side, led by Kapil Dev lift the trophy..

Thomas Cup 2022: Sunil Gavaskar compares India's victory to 1983 Cricket World Cup triumph

The Thomas Cup 2022 final was no cakewalk for India as Lakshya sen and the doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy had to make a comeback and win their respective matches to seal India's name to the trophy. Speaking on Star Sports, Gavaskar said -

 "I think it is such a wonderful day for Badminton, I think this could be the 1983 moment for badminton because in 1983, nobody expected us to win. Here, I am not saying nobody expected India to win because India in the last two years, has developed a fabulous badminton team but they were playing 14-time champions Indonesia, just that little bit of doubt. I am just so delighted, as I said, over the sun, over the moon. I am over all the planets. Well done guys."

Sunil Gavaskar reveals his love for Badminton 

The legendary cricketer-turned-commentator also spoke about the stamina required to play the game of Badminton and also revealed his preference between Cricket and Badminton. He said, "The morning was very sad with the news of Symonds' passing away. As the afternoon went on, good news came in. The Indian Thomas Cup team won the badminton title, which is like the world title for the first time and beat Indonesia, who have been 14-time champions, they are the defending champions. They beat them. I'll tell you what, I am just over the moon, I love badminton. If you give me a choice between watching a game of cricket -- T20 and Badminton, I'll choose Badminton anytime."

"I think it is a very hard and tough game, you need loads of stamina, you need anticipation, your reflexes, everything. I used to play a little bit, only to help my slip catching reflexes because when you go for the shuttle on the backend side or on the forehand side, you need those reflexes. So that was the intention, not so much for stamina or anything of that sort. So that is why I played, I used to play doubles, mind you. I did not have the legs or lungs for the singles," Gavaskar concluded.