What happens when you win a 20-20 world cup? Nothing much just that the whole country is in euphoria

and the city in which the players arrive is besieged by the media and then there is a public procession of the

players who are made to stand atop open buses and paraded all around the city with cheering public throwing

flower petals on them as though they have won a war. So much of importance to a game played by only

8 countries realistically. Cricketers are loved, admired, idolised even bestowed arjuna awards earlier than

sportsman from other fields. Raising cricket or cricketers to a demi god status is not my problem

but the lack of importance attached to sport personalities who consistently achieve on the international stage

is the worrying thing.

Here is where i would like to mention about one Mr Leander paes who for over a decade has been bringing

laurels to our country in a sport that is tough, competitive and played worldwide.  Not only has he won

a bronze medal at the atlanta olympics in 1996 he has won around 40 doubles titles with various partners.

The last title he won was at the French open 2009 along with lukas dlouhy , he has won 9 grand slam titles

in all, 5 in doubles and 4 in mixed doubles. So what kind of welcome does he get after winning a grand slam,

well simple, he arrives quietly gets into his car and drives home without much fuss and fanfare. That’s our idea of a heroes welcome to achievers in sports other than

cricket. Think about it,  does’nt a sportman like him need to be elevated to the stature of a sachin, saurav, dravid, sehwag or a yuvraj? In my opinion yes..

This is in spite of the fact that i love cricket more than any sport, even tennis. Let’s not honour and acknowledge our heroes after its too late ,

Leander has made the country proud on a number of occassions so lets value his contribution.

Below is his grand slam record so judge for yourself. WELL DONE LEANDER !!!

Grand Slam men’s doubles titles

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponent in final	Score in final
1999	French Open	Mahesh Bhupathi	Goran Ivanišević Jeff Tarango	6–2, 7–5
1999	Wimbledon	Mahesh Bhupathi	Paul Haarhuis Jared Palmer	6–7, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6
2001	French Open	Mahesh Bhupathi	Petr Pála Pavel Vízner	7–6, 6–3
2006	U.S. Open	Martin Damm	Jonas Björkman Max Mirnyi	6–7, 6–4, 6–3
2009	French Open	Lukáš Dlouhý	Wesley Moodie Dick Norman	3–6, 6–3, 6–2

[edit] Grand Slam mixed doubles titles

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponent in final	Score in final
1999	Wimbledon	Lisa Raymond	Jonas Björkman Anna Kournikova	6–4, 3–6, 6–3
2003	Australian Open	Martina Navratilova	Todd Woodbridge Eleni Daniilidou	6–4, 7–5
2003	Wimbledon	Martina Navratilova	Andy Ram Anastassia Rodionova	6–3, 6–3
2008	US Open	Cara Black	Jamie Murray Liezel Huber	7–6, 6–4

[edit]