Try and reminisce the days before the Tokyo Olympics with wrestler Bajrang Punia as the central figure. There was a sense of anticipation in the air. He was touted to be India's biggest hope for an Olympic gold. Fans, the wrestling federation and certain sections of media thought it was a foregone conclusion.
After all he was the World No. 2 going into the Olympics, he had won the 2018 Commonwealth Games as well as the 2018 Asian Games gold medals, besides coming on top in various ranking tournaments before the marquee event.
