Top IBL stars won’t share tricks with youngsters: Kashyap

The cricketers may have done it in the IPL, but India’s top male shuttler Parupalli Kashyap feels big names associated with the shuttle sport would not be forthcoming in sharing tricks with their team-mates from different countries in the upcoming Indian Badminton League.

‘Cricket is a team game and it is obvious for the team to win as a unit, and you find many top players sharing their tricks with young ones. Badminton is an individual sport and players wouldn’t like to share tricks with other players lest they end up losing to them in other tournaments,’ Kashyap said.

Kashyap, one of the six icon players in the IBL, said the Chinese have been secretive about their training, which has helped them dominate the sport for a long time. 

‘Obviously, ten years down the line if we are as strong as China, we wouldn’t want any Malaysian and any other player to come and train with us and learn our ways lest we end up losing to him in other tournaments,’ he added. 

The IBL, however, Kashyap said, will certainly help young Indian shuttlers to observe and learn the nuances of the sport playing alongside or against top international players. 

‘In my teens when I started playing the sport, my parents considered it a risk to make it a career. But now, with this kind of an event, which involves money, aspirants can make badminton their career. This is good for the sport and it will grow.’