former india opener gautam gambhir, who played a key role in India’s victories in the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ICC World Cup, spoke openly about the problem of “hero worship” in Indian cricket. during the conversation with Indian ExpressWhere he was asked about the subject, Gambhir gave an example Virat Kohli And Bhuvneshwar Kumar From the match against Afghanistan in the recently concluded Asia Cup.
The match Gambhir was referring to was a dead rubber as both Sri Lanka and Pakistan had already confirmed their places in the final. India registered a big win in the match with the victories of Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Kohli scored his maiden T20I century, which was also his first century in international cricket in almost three years. This innings was appreciated by all and as a result Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s five-wicket haul went completely unnoticed.
Gambhir said the culture of “veer worship” leads to these problems.
“When Kohli scored 100 and it was this youngster from a small town in Meerut (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) who managed to take five wickets, no one bothered to speak about him. It was very unfortunate. During that commentary stint I was the only one who said so. He bowled four overs and got five wickets and I don’t think anyone knows about it. But Kohli’s score is 100 and there is celebration everywhere in this country. India needs to come out of this hero worship. Be it Indian cricket, whether it is politics, whether it is Delhi cricket. We have to stop worshiping heroes. The only thing we need to worship is Indian cricket, or Delhi or India.
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“Who created it? It is made up of two things. First, by the social media followers, which is probably the most fake thing in this country, because you can be judged by how many followers you have. That is what makes a brand,” Gambhir said.
“Second, by the media and broadcasters. If you keep talking about a person day to day, it eventually becomes a brand. Such was the case in 1983. Why start with Dhoni? It started in 1983. When India won the first world cup, everything was Kapil Dev, He was Dhoni when we won in 2007 and 2011. who made this? None of the players did. Neither did the BCCI. Have news channels and broadcasters ever talked about Indian cricket? Have we ever said that Indian cricket needs to flourish? There are two or more than three people who are the stakeholders of Indian cricket. They don’t rule Indian cricket, they shouldn’t rule Indian cricket. Indian cricket should be ruled by 15 people sitting in that dressing room. Everyone has a contribution…… I have never been able to follow anyone in my life. And this has been my biggest problem. Media and broadcasters make one brand, no one makes another.
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