After Narinder Batra suggested that the standards of CWG aren't high and that India should pull-out to improve its own quality, various Indian athletes including Vijender Singh and Jaspal Rana, have voiced their criticism.
The athletes reacted with anger but the officialdom chose to weigh its words before responding to Indian Olympic Association chief Narinder Batra's assertion that the Commonwealth Games is a waste of time and the country should consider a permanent pullout.
Shooting legend Jaspal Rana on Wednesday did not agree with IOA chief's suggestion that India should stop competing at the Commonwealth Games, but backed his support for Shooting.
Batra triggered a debate on the issue with his comment that the CWG was a waste of time and the country should consider a permanent pull out from the quadrennial event.
Batra is of the view that the level of competition at the CWG is not good enough.
"I second him (Batra) because he is supporting my sport. You (2022 CWG organisers) cannot just withdraw a sport that has been part of the roster for so many years," Rana, who is also national junior pistol coach, said.
"But this can also have a negative side to it because pulling out altogether is going to affect the athletes. Winning a medal, irrespective of the magnitude of the event, is huge for an athlete.
"It's a platform for them to prepare for bigger events like the Olympics. Moreover, from shooting's point of view, it is a case of Indian shooting improving a lot in the last few years than anything else. So it has both negative and positive sides," he added.
Another shooting great Samaresh Jung agreed with Rana and said the standard of the CWG has improved over the years.
"We won 6-7 medals in shooting 1998 but we started winning more medals after that," said Jung, who won seven medals, including five golds, in the 2006 CWG.
"I think we worked on it and improved rather than the standard of Games going down. We should look at the positive side."
Batra had earlier called for an Indian boycott of the 2022 CWG in Birmingham over non-inclusion of shooting in the Games roster.
His suggestion on pulling out from the CWG, though, didn't find many takers. The athletes from various sports reacted with anger to the suggestion of a permanent pullout.
"It is not acceptable," said one of India's currently most successful table tennis players G Sathiyan, who claimed two silvers and a bronze in the 2018 edition in Gold Coast.
The shooting fraternity chose to sidestep queries on Batra's comment but others were upfront.
Boxing star Vijender Singh, who is the first and only male pugilist with an Olympic medal to his credit, said Batra's statement is heartbreaking as it undermines athletes' hard work.
"It is heartbreaking. By this logic, India should not send teams to invitational tournaments either because the level of competition is not like the Olympics or the world championship even there," said the boxer who has two silver and a bronze from the three CWGs he competed in.
"Why belittle the athletes' achievements? And in any case, CWG has strong boxing nations such as England and Ireland in fray," he added.
The 2014 Glasgow CWG gold-medallist shuttler Parupalli Kashyap also differed with Batra, who also heads the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
"It is ridiculous to think of boycotting the Commonwealth Games. I don't think the standard is low. I didn't have it easy when I beat all these players during the 2010 edition (when he won bronze) and the 2014 Games," he recalled.
"It is not like we are winning all the gold medals. Even in badminton, there are teams like Malaysia, England who are tough," he added.
In fact, 2010 CWG gold-medallist discus thrower Krishna Poonia said the Commonwealth competition in athletics is stiffer than the Asian Games, which is generally perceived to be tougher by the sporting fraternity.
"For athletics, CWG is world-class, the competition is of higher level than the Asian Games," she said.
A top official from the national federation of a prominent Olympic sport asked if Batra would deem the competition good enough if shooting is brought back.
"Someone should ask him will the CWG regain significance if shooting is accepted back on the roster. May be he will have a different view to offer," the official said.
"Why deride the athletes who have worked hard for their medals at CWG because you are unhappy about the exclusion of one sport? CWG won't die if India pulls out," he added.
Two-time CWG gold-medallist weightlifter Sathish Sivalingam said a medal at the Games provides job security to a lot of athletes and that shouldn't be taken away.
"I am completely against the pullout. The Commonwealth Games are a big event for us. Medal-winning performances in the CWG bring a lot of incentives like jobs and money etc. So for us, this competition is important," he said.
Former India hockey captain Zafar Iqbal, who was part of the 1980 Olympic gold medal-winning team, was surprised by Batra's comment.
"That's a ridiculous statement coming from a man who is holding numerous important positions in national as well as international sports federations," he said.
"Commonwealth Games is the biggest competition after Olympics in terms of participation of countries. 72 countries took part in the last Commonwealth Games. And if you talk about hockey, all top nations like Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain are there," he added.
A more guarded response came from the Wrestling federation. The sport contributes massively to India's medal tally at CWGs and its President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said the grapplers are eager to continue at the quadrennial showpiece.
"The general view of the wrestling fraternity is that the athletes want to compete, whatever the tournament is," he said.
Similar responses were offered by the national federations of table tennis, squash and swimming, who said they would abide by the government and the IOA's decisions.
But the athletes were more forthcoming.
Archer Rahul Banerjee, a gold-medallist at the 2010 Delhi CWG, said all talk of pullout started only after shooting was excluded and the administrators ought to answer why the competitiveness of the event didn't matter before that.
"If Commonwealth Games were so easy why only a few disciplines like wrestling, shooting and boxing earn India the bulk of medals?" he asked.
"Obviously we can't compare CWG with the Olympics which is above all, even the World Championships. So does that mean we will not value a World Championship medal and won't send a team there?"
But there were also voices who agreed with Batra. Former Archery Association Secretary General Paresh Nath Mukherjee said, "there can't be a bigger truth" than what the IOA chief has dared to say.
"He has hit the nail on the head. Commonwealth Games has no relevance in the Olympics. It has no value and only poor and foolish countries like us make such hype about CWG.
"It's nothing but waste of money," he said.
IOA Treasurer Anandeshwar Pandey, however, begged to differ.
"...in my personal view, every Games, whether it is South Asian Games, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games or Olympics, they have their importance and some of our athletes' future are associated with them," he said.
A top weightlifting federation official also called CWG important.
"The level of Commonwealth Games is better than Asian Games in some sports," he said.
