The captain of Hyderabad Hotshots, who was the highest paid women’s player in the league, played a key role in her city franchise winning the inaugural title — apart from drawing crowds to all the venues.

It is perhaps no exaggeration to say that the spunky 22-year-old from Hyderabad has sealed her place as the most saleable women’s sports icon in India — winning fans, endorsements and even inspiring a biography. The last five years have passed off in a haze, which has seen her graduate from a teenage phenomenon to India’s only Olympic medallist in the sport and a regular top-five player in the world.

However, the world number four seems to have developed her own mechanism of not letting the pressure get to her.

“There is no pressure on me really, I enjoy it,” Nehwal said in an exclusive interview with Gulf News from India. “I feel very happy when people recognise me; it motivates me a lot to do better. Endorsements are required because you need money for yourself and your family and I am lucky that people like me for the advertisements that I do.”

There is no denying that a lot of her success can be attributed to not letting it get into her head and setting up a clear prioritisation between her work ethic and the trappings of stardom. She may choose to be politically correct for most of the time, but does not shy away from airing an opinion if need be.

Take the recent case when she said that the IBL can become like cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL) one day. Asked about her take on this, Saina said: “The IBL showed that our sport, which is often viewed as a club sport in India, can also bring in crowds. People came into the stadia in large numbers, though the capacity of most of the indoor stadia is very limited. Much like the IPL, some of the top foreign players came and shared the dressing rooms with us — making friends, earning money and sharing the same platform.

“I would say all these was a healthy sign for badminton and I think in coming years it will be able to compete with any other sport,” she said.

However, the cramped schedule of the league, which even drew complaints from some of the players, has also taken a toll on her — forcing her to skip the China Masters and Japan Open. Stressing that the window for the IBL should be created in a manner so as to prevent a burnout among the players, Nehwal said: “We at the BAI/BWF level will look at the slots where the tournaments can fit in so that there is no fatigue on the players.”

The current season, however, has not seen Saina at her peak — she made early exits in a few Grand Prix tournaments and was knocked out of the World Championships in Shanghai in the group stages. There were, of course, reasons for India to cheer when PV Sindhu, who the media is already referring to as the ‘next Saina’, won the bronze in the women’s singles – a first women’s medal for India at that event.

Also a product of Pulella Gopichand’s academy in Hyderabad, Sindhu has been making rapid strides in the sport and Saina admits she is excited about this. “It’s very encouraging that at least one girl is coming on top by following what I had done in the past. I am very happy for her and wish for more Sainas and Sindhus to emerge in our country,” she said.

Looking back at her season so far, Saina said: “I started well at the Worlds and was feeling quite strong but suddenly fell ill. The IBL gave some confidence back but I had to skip the China and Japan events because of fatigue. However, I will now focus on the Denmark and France events and strive to do much better.”

Until only a few years ago, any conversation with her would yield a promise of winning an Olympic medal for the country (something which she had narrowly missed in her first Olympic appearance in Beijing in 2008) and improve on her world rankings. Now that she had been a top-five player for a long time and has a bronze medal to show from the London Games, how easy or difficult is it to motivate herself? “My goals have not really changed. Unfortunately I was struggling with a few injuries and missed [out on] some of the titles I won before. Fortunately, though, my ranking has not come down too much but I will work to improve on it,” said Saina, whose career high was No.2 in 2010.

Being a top-drawer professional also has its own demands: it’s all about being a regimented lifestyle and being on the road for several months in a year. Does this leave her with any quality time for herself? “This is quality time for me,” she says emphatically, adding in all sincerity: “I am earning a name, money and the love of so many people. What more do you need?”

Point taken.

Fact Box