Sania Mirza might be world number 42 in tennis but here's our very own Bengali lad, 25-year-old Ritwik Bhattacharya who is world number 62 in a similar game and that's squash.

Despite his achievements, it’s Sania who's hogged the limelight and Ritwik is only revered by sports freaks.

"Had I been a tennis player of the same rank as I am now, then I would have been driving a Ferrari and would have been definitely more famous," he says during his visit to Kolkata for the Kolkata International.

But such things does not perturb the player because he is here with a mission. "I want to make squash as popular as tennis or cricket. I will ensure that youngsters take up the game and it is as important as any other game that attracts attention."

Ritwik admits that it does hurt when people still ask him, "You play squash but what do you do for a living?"

"When I say I play professionally in London, they get curious," he adds. The champ has learnt to take all this in his stride because achieving the world 57 position hasn't been a cakewalk.

"When I won the national championship, I felt great. But soon I realised where I stood in terms of proficiency, when I started playing the PSA tournaments. I was not up to the world standards.

"Worst was when I was treated like an untouchable in the international circuit because despite being the best in India no one agreed to train me or play with me because they felt my standard was too low. Things started looking up after I won a couple of PSA tournaments," says Bhattacharya.

Right now, Ritwik is all set to play a string of tournaments that includes the British Open, Hungarian Open, the Athens Open that will take him to somewhere around 40.

"I believe Indians have tremendous potential. I'm training under Neil Harvey, who has a record of training the world number one. I am 25 and by 28, I have a realistic chance to be at the top," he signs off.