Neeraj Chopra has named Brett Lee as a cricketer who he feels could have been a good javelin thrower had they not been a cricketer and expressed his desire to try his hand at javelin throw with India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. After winning the Paris Diamond League meet and the Ostrava Golden Spike event in consecutive weeks, Neeraj Chopra is back home in India, preparing for one of the most significant events of his season, the Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025. The standalone javelin throw tournament bears his name, and he will be star attraction when the event starts on July 5th, Saturday at 7 pm.
Before the event, Neeraj sat down with the official broadcasters of the event to talk about his sport. Neeraj was asked which cricketer he believed would be best suited to take up the javelin. Neeraj said: “I have heard that Brett Lee was a javelin thrower. I think he could throw the javelin well, especially when he was in his peak years. I would like to try javelin with Jasprit Bumrah too, and hope he teaches me some bowling skills. While bowling and javelin are both throws, they are very different. I would like to learn from Bumrah.”
Recently, after winning the Paris Diamond League meet, he was asked by an American media company if he had tried cricket bowling since the delivery strides are similar. Neeraj had explained that while in javelin the release point of the throw is aimed skywards, in cricket the ball is released in a downwards direction. But he had expressed his desire to try his hands at baseball pitching someday when he was in the USA.
Asked which cricketer’s superpower would he love to borrow for the perfect javelin throw, Neeraj said: “Sachin Tendulkar. He represented our country so well for so many years and made so many records for us. The way he faced challenges from many great bowlers and still performed exceptionally — I would want that superpower and try to do the same. It would help me handle challenges that come my way with a calm mindset.”
Asked if he was superstitious, Neeraj said: “I try to stay calm on the day of my event. I don’t think too much about it. I just focus on giving my 100%. I try to stay relaxed, eat good food, and rest well.”
In the interview, while talking about the best advice he has received, both on and off the field, Neeraj said: “It came from my coach Jan Železný, who also holds the world record in javelin with a throw of 98.48 metres. Whenever I throw, I stay very energetic, but he tells me that I need to run in a flow. It shouldn’t feel tight — I should run like an 18-year-old kid without any tension. I’m slowly understanding the concept of flow. I think that in any sport, flow is very important. For example, Roger Federer — he played with such grace and rhythm that it never seemed like he was putting in too much effort. I’m trying to bring that into my training.”
