Gautam Gambhir has again expressed his displeasure at the hero worship in Indian cricket. Gambhir, who played a vital role in India’s 2007 World Twenty20 and 2011 ODI World Cup triumphs, pointed out that several players didn’t get enough credit for their contribution to the mega ICC events.
The southpaw has often talked about the celebrity-worshipping in India and blamed it for India’s recent performance in the global events.
Gambhir suggested that veteran stars like Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan aren’t credited enough for performances in the 2011 World Cup.
“When you talk about not giving credit, forget about me, I think we have not given enough spread to Yuvraj Singh as well. We have not given enough credit to Zaheer Khan. How many people talk about Zaheer Khan’s first spell in the World Cup final which set the tone for us – five overs four maidens. Tell me how many people remember that?” Gambhir told RevSportz.
The former opener talked about the media and fans’ obsession with individual players and he asserted that the majority of Indian fans started treating players beyond the game of cricket.
“It is not about the players it is the media it is the social media. It is the narrative that has been created that individual obsessed nature that you are obsessed with an individual so much that you forget about the team and what the team members have done. No individual can ever go on to win the World Cup. If that was the case India would have won every World Cup till now because we worship heroes, we worship our own players individually so much we start talking about them, we start treating them beyond a game of cricket,” he added.
Gambhir, who played a crucial 97-run knock final in the 2011 WC final, pointed out the contributions of his teammates that didn’t get noticed.
“So for me, I think let’s not even talk about my 97. I think there are far more bigger contribution in the competition, Yuvraj Singh in 2007. Tell me how many people talk about Yuvraj Singh? Yuvraj Singh’s contribution in 2011 World Cup, Zaheer Khan’s performance throughout the tournament. Suresh Raina’s innings against Australia, Munaf Patel’s spell against Australia, there were so many contributors. Yes, I did contribute, played a huge innings in the World Cup Final,” he said.
He said that the fans keep talking about the six from MS Dhoni which helped India seal the final as he suggested that even Sachin Tendulkar didn’t get enough credit for his performance.
“Look at Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin Tendulkar was the highest run-getter (for India), three or four hundreds in the 2011 World Cup. How many people talk about Sachin Tendulkar? We keep talking about one 6, which MS played, but that was never the case,” he said.
Gambhir further suggested that he can also spend a big amount of money to get the limelight but he prefers to live in the real world.
“It is the media that has created. When you keep asking players whether they have been given much credit, they will always say no, because of media, social media – amount of money that have spent or so many other platforms that will always have. Yes, I can also spend that and I have all the right to spend that but I don’t do that because I want to live in the real world. I have always picked up the bat to make my nation proud and if I have done that even once in my career that’s enough for me. I think that’s what I have achieved everything possible in my career,” he said.
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