India, July 21 -- There was an uproar in India ahead of the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games because shooting had been removed from the roster. And calls were made to boycott the event altogether because of it.

Shooting has been India's most lucrative event at the Games with the country winning a total of 135 medals (63 gold). If India were to stay highly ranked in the overall medal tally, shooting was always going to play a big role.

In its absence, it was expected that the overall tally would be significantly lower, given that the Indian contingent won a tournament-high 16 medals in shooting at 2018 Gold Coast, including seven gold.

But when the Birmingham Games took place and India indeed took part, it was the athletics contingent...