How HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth proved to be the 'Zen masters' of India's Thomas Cup triumph

Bangkok, dressed in pristine whites, they numbered nine. The tenth member, Lakshya Sen, was already in Thailand; but the news about him was not good. He had flown in carrying a stomach bug he caught possibly from something he ate before boarding the flight from Bengaluru. Ten days later, Lakshya would turn up in India's first rubber of a dream Thomas Cup Final against Indonesia, He got hammered in the first game 8-21 by Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Anthony Ginting. "I thought he would lose." That was Vimal Kumar's thought, sitting inside Bangkok's Impact Arena with the Indian squad. Lakshya, 'the baby of the team' who has grown in the past year to stun some of the finest exponents of the sport, went on to beat Ginting at his own game over the next 45 minutes. He won 8-21, 21-16, 21-17 to give India a rousing start.

(Indian team upon arriving in Bangkok for the Thomas Cup - Photo: Kidambi Srikanth Instagram)The context of that story is embedded in the 'team bonding' that was probably better than ever before in any Indian team. And it was championed by two senior statesmen of the squad -- HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth. Prannoy's decisive win in the quarterfinals against Malaysia, which he repeated in the semis against Denmark, must have brought a wry smile on the selectors' faces, who were criticized for picking Prannoy and even allowing him to bypass the selection trials. Srikanth, the former world No. 1, showed more than a glimpse of his 2018 form. He remained undefeated throughout the tournament, winning all his six singles matches. HS Prannoy too did not let any of his opponents go past him, winning all the five singles matches that he played. But what those performances did off the court was equally important.