Vijay Kumar (Professional Shooter)

A recipient of the Arjuna Award (2007), Raijv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (2012), Padma Shri (2013), it might seem like a bit of a stretch to say Subedar Major Vijay Kumar failed to get the recognition he deserved, but how often does his name come up when  we discuss the best Indian athletes from the past decade or so? A man of his achievements should be a part of such conversations. His medal collection includes a sliver at the London Olympics 2012, 5 commonwealth golds, 1 silver, and 2 bronze in the Asian Games, and 2 silvers in the World Shooting Championship. That’s an astounding tally of medals from a man who serves in the Dogra Regiment of the Indian Army. Cricketers have always been getting attention, but they aren’t the only ones now. We have athletes like Vijender Singh, Mary Kom, Dipa Karmakar, PV Sindhu, and many other who have made their way into the mainstream, and rightly so. They’ve done well to reach the top of their respective sport, and they deserve all the adulation they get. However, Vijay Kumar failed to receive even half the amount of media attention his achievements deserved. If you walk onto a crowded street in India, and ask people who Vijay Kumar is, how many of them will be able to recognise him? That in itself makes him under appreciated.

Devendra Jhajharia (Paralympic Javelin Thrower)

A 2 time goal medal winner at the Paralympic Games (Athens 2004 & Rio 2016), Jhajharia set a new world record in the 2004 edition of the games. A gold and a silver in the World Championships, and a silver in the Asian Para Games completes his tally of medals. The first Paralympian to be honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Jhajharia can take pride in the fact that disabled athletes are now considered on par with able-bodied athletes thanks to his contribution. Admittedly, he should have received the award following his exploits in Athens 2004, but eventually received it when he repeated the feat with a gold in Rio 2016. “12 years late,” is what Jhajharia said in an interview with the Indian Express earlier this month. But as the saying goes, better late than never. There are not many Indian athletes outside of Cricket who can be considered as the best in the world at their craft, Jhajharia is definitely one of them. For that reason alone, he deserves so much more recognition.

I.M. Vijayan (Footballer)

A striker who famously formed a deadly partnership with Baichung Bhutia for the Indian national team, Vijayan was crowned Indian Player of the Year in 1993, 1997, and 1999. In doing so, he became the first player to win the award multiple times. Vijayan has a very respectable record of 40 goals in 79 games for India, and scored the fourth fastest goal ever in an international game when he scored within 12 seconds against Bhutan. In 1998, a biographical movie about Vijayan titled Kalo Harin was released. Karlo Harim translates into black buck, which was his nickname during his playing days. After retiring from football, he has featured in over 15 Malayalam movies, thanks to which his popularity has remained in tact in Kerala and neighboring states. However, it is important to make sure his exploits on the football field are never forgotten. He has set up a football academy in Thrissur, and has been appointed as the national observer for football by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

Mithali Raj (Cricketer)

Captain of the Indian Cricket Women team, Raj is often considered the greatest with the bat in the women arena. She is the only player to have surpassed the 6,000 run mark in ODIs, and is the first captain (men or women), to lead India to an ICC World Cup final twice – 2005 and 2017. She has shot into the mainstream after she lead the side to the finals of the 2017 World Cup in England. However, for a woman who has represented the nation for almost 2 decades now, and played close to 300 matches across all 3 formats, is she getting enough adulation and recognition? We don’t think so.

Who do you think is the most underappreciated? Did we miss someone out? Let us know!