Incensed by a spur-of-the-moment change in the home side’s squad, the Krrish Delhi Smashers threatened to stage a walkout ahead of their scheduled Indian Badminton League tie against the Banga Beats in Bengaluru on Sunday.
The Smashers filed a protest in the form of a letter, signed by all the players of the side as well as the coach and manager, to the IBL governing council after the Banga Beats replaced Hu Yun with the hitherto unsold Jan O. Jorgensen.
The Bengaluru-based team sprang a surprise on Sunday by replacing Yun, their second singles player, with world no. 9 Jorgensen for the rest of the league.
After the Hong Kong shuttler’s persistent back injury aggravated during the team’s disastrous outing on Friday against Pune Pistons, the team thinktank opted to replace him with the 25-year-old who was in the reserve pool for a base price of $35,000.
In the letter addressed to the IBL governing council, a copy of which is in the possession of this newspaper, Delhi said: “This is to inform you that the Delhi Smashers team objects the replacement of player from Banga Beats five mins before handing over the tie-sheet. Out team was not informed about the change at all. We would stage a walkout if the replacement stays (sic).”
Eventually, Delhi agreed to play under protest after the Banga Beats fielded Arvind Bhat for the second men’s singles match.
Playing in front of the home crowd, with a raging controversy brewing in the background, it was a test of character more than skill for Parupalli Kashyap in Banga Beats’ must-win tie against Delhi Smashers at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium.
Contesting the first singles in a crunch contest, Kashyap was in sublime form as he combined his cross-court game and deceptive drop shots with equal finesse to romp home 21-15, 21-11 against B. Sai Praneeth.
Even after the match began 20 minutes behind schedule, the unrest continued with the Delhi camp barely concentrating on Praneeth’s tie. Led by the vocal Jwala Gutta, their unhappiness over the development was there for all to see, with the visiting team’s dugout wearing a deserted look for the better part of the match as they hurdled together on the sidelines engaged in animated discussions.
Kashyap never allowed his 21-year-old Hyderabad mate to settle down.
The opening game went into the first break with Kashyap hanging on to a slender 7-6 lead. From there on, Kashyap took charge and raced through the game. The second game was no different and Kashyap completed the formalities in no time.