Kapil Dev to Prakash Padukone: Meet India's first gamechangers

Ahead of the release of Ranveer Singh's '83', a film on India's pathbreaking cricket World Cup victory, Forbes India looks at the journeys of sportspeople who flipped the switch for India on the global stage
Published: Mar 16, 2020
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Image by : Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy

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Prakash Padukone is India's first winner of the All England championships, the most prestigious badminton tournament, received a state reception on his return to Bengaluru after winning the title. Padukone, who started playing the game at 7 at a wedding hall-turned-court in the city's Malleshwaram area, was taken in an open jeep from the airport to the Vidhan Soudha, where the chief minister received him. "It was something unheard of in the 1980s, that too for a badminton player," says Padukone. "The All-England victory was one of the turning points for badminton in India."