India's legendary cricketers Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar extended their heartfelt wishes to 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist badminton star Saina Nehwal, who recently announced that she is long retired from the game, having not been able to meet the demands of the sport.

Nehwal has been sidelined for the past two years because of a chronic knee problem. She confirmed her retirement from competitive badminton earlier this week, stating that her body could no longer withstand the physical demands of elite sport. Having achieved immense success for India during her illustrious badminton career, Nehwal last played a competitive match at the Singapore Open in 2023 but didn’t announce her retirement at the time.

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"Congratulations @NSaina on a legendary career that put Indian badminton on the world stage. Wishing you a happy, fulfilling and well-deserved retirement. India is proud," Kohli wrote on X on Friday afternoon.

Saina suffered a career-threatening knee injury during the 2016 Rio Olympics. However, she bounced back in style and ended up winning a World Championships bronze in 2017 and Commonwealth Games gold in 2018, but the knee issue continued to hamper her progress. In 2024, Saina revealed that she had developed arthritis in her knees and suffered cartilage wear.

Sachin Tendulkar hailed Saina Nehwal for her stellar career during which she carried Indian badminton to the world stage. "Dear Saina, your career is proof that greatness is built one day at a time, with patience, courage, and consistency. You carried Indian badminton to the world stage and showed that belief, when matched with preparation, can change the course of a sport", wrote Sachin.

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Saina emphasised that she did not feel a formal retirement announcement was necessary, believing her prolonged absence from competition was enough.

"Slowly, people will also realise that Saina is not playing," Nehwal said on a recent podcast, which brought her retirement to light. I did not think it was such a big matter to announce my retirement. I just felt my time was up because I could not push much, as my knee wasn’t able to push like before," Saina said.


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