Often have we
witnessed great athletes evolve in to brilliant business
leaders .Jeffrey Immelt, CEO at GE played football for Dartmouth’s Ivy
League squad, IBM’s CEO Samuel Palmisano was a star player on the Johns
Hopkins football team and Meg Whitman, the CEO of Hewlett-Packard was
the captain of her school’s swim team, played tennis, basketball and was
part of Princeton’s squash and lacrosse teams.
The
co-relation between sportsmanship, the competitive edge that athletics
develop and the qualities of a top-notch business person has not been
lost on the business world. With this in mind, it makes sense that the
Managing Director of one of India’s largest infrastructure development
companies, Mr.
Arun Lakhani
has made it his mission to promote, support and spearhead efforts
towards making sports more accessible. Specifically, Badminton has been
his choice of game and the state of Maharashtra his playground.
In
October, 2015, Mr. Lakhani was unanimously appointed as the new
president of the Maharashtra Badminton Association, taking over from
Pradeep Gandhe who was captaining the organisation for a decade.
“My
experience across the years with the Executive Committee and Planning
Committee have given me a deep understanding of what is required of me
and have also shaped my ambitions for creating better infrastructure for
Badminton within Maharashtra,”,said Mr. Lakhani.
The
MBA aims to bridge the gap between Indian Badminton standards and those
that are upheld internationally. With more talented players entering
the arena each year, there is a great need for well-equipped facilities,
academies and trainers. Mr. Lakhani, also a visionary in the Public
Private Partnership sector has headed several enormous projects for
Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd., alongside the government. With his skills
and experience at managing complex projects and accomplishing large
scale developments, the MBA is confident of their choice
“The
MBA has managed to spread the game to all corners of the state. Around
24 districts are active, which is a very positive sign for badminton.
Still, we lack in providing facilities to the talented players. We don’t
have enough infrastructures to accommodate more players. My focus will
be on to develop the facilities and infrastructure,” said the new
president while addressing a meet-the-press programmer, organized by the
Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur.
Mr.
Lakhani’s first and foremost priority will be retain players who choose
to leave Maharashtra and train in other states such Hyderabad and
Bangalore which offer them better opportunities. One of the first
milestones would be to set up a world-class academy in Maharashtra. It’s
already clear that the goals being set by the Maharashtra Badminton
Association are not simply those of an organization but of an avid lover
of the sport itself.
While
speaking to Nagpur Today, Mr. Lakhani said, “I am not new to Badminton
as a sportsman. In my college days, I held the racquet regularly and
displayed my skills on the court. But now-a-days due to busy schedule at
office and other activities of vital nature, the racquet has now been
passed to my son. My son is now honing his skills at the court and I am
enjoying his services and powerful shots from the bench as a dutiful
parent.”
There
will, however, be challenges along the way. The previous president Mr.
Gandhe attempted at acquiring land for a long time and now this
responsibility will lay in the hands of Mr.Lakhani. His dreams of
turning Maharashtra in to a national Badminton hub greatly depend on his
ties with the government.
In
the short term, the MBA hopes to improve existing badminton complexes
and encouraging more potential champions to join the sport. Problem
solving at a district level is being approached with a pre-defined
agenda and systems are being put in to place to ensure better
communications.
It
will be interesting to observe how a Badminton enthusiast and focused
businessman such as Mr. Lakhani changes the face of the sport in
Maharashtra as well as India.
