Saina was not forced to play in PBL: BAI Chief

"Saina was not fit which is why she did not play in Mumbai and Hyderabad. It is up to the player to decide whether he or she is fit to play or not. I assure you neither the BAI nor any franchise forced Saina, or as a matter of fact any other player, to play," Das Gupta said, reported IANS.

Saina sat out the opening match of the tournament against Mumbai citing injury concerns but returned to court in just two days to take on P C Thulasi in her team’s home match at Lucknow. The 25-year old once again opted to sit out of the tournament after two consecutive home matches before returning for the semi-final clash.

The Indian ace looked to be struggling with injury in the semi-final match against Chinese shuttler Han Li and suffered a dismal and unexpected loss.

"Saina herself thought she was fit and went to the court. But many times a player realises that he or she is not fit enough only when the match starts, which was probably the case with Saina too," Das Gupta concluded, reported IANS. (Read: A Saina fan's plea to India's badminton authorities)

In an interview to the Hindu after her match against Bengaluru Top Guns in the group stages of PBL, Saina had confirmed that she was not completely fit.

“I am happy that I am able to play in the PBL even without training. I am in bad shape, but I am happy to pull off some matches,” Saina told the Hindu.