IND vs PAK: "We Should Stop Hero Worship"- Gautam Gambhir Feels Media Should Focus More On Team Than Individuals

Former Indian cricketer and two-time World Cup champion Gautam Gambhir has spoken out against the long-standing practice of “hero worship” in Indian cricket.

And recently, ahead of the start of Team India’s 2022 T20 World Cup campaign in Australia against arch-rivals Pakistan at the storied Melbourne Cricket Ground, Gambhir once more spoke on the subject while making a significant statement about Virat Kohli and contrasting him with one of his teammates in the World Cup squad. 

Media Should Talk About Team Rather Than Players: Gautam Gambhir

During his conversation with Zee on India against Pakistan game, Gautam Gambhir brought up the subject. He believes that supporters should start talking about the Indian cricket team as a whole instead of the individual players, which has been commonplace due to the media’s transformation of these players into brands. 

By contrasting Suryakumar Yadav with some of the best cricketers on the India team, including Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir illustrated his argument.

He said that despite Suryakumar being India’s top player in the T20I format, Kohli and Rohit Sharma have received more attention from fans and the media since, in his opinion, the former has a far smaller social media profile and following than the two seasoned cricketers. 

“Aap Indian cricket ki baat kariye. Indian team ki baat honi zaruri hai. Hero worship nahi hona chaiye par hota hai kyunki media brands banati hai. (Talk about Indian cricket. We should all be talking about the Indian team. We should stop hero worship. It shouldn’t be there at all, but it’s still prevelant because media transform these players into brands).”

“Suryakumar Yadav ka pichle ek saal mein jo pradarshan raha hai Indian team ke liye woh, mujhe lagta hai ki jo 6 ballebaaz hai unse better hai. But aapne usske baare mein ek bhi sawal nahi pucha. Kyunki uske paas social media mein utne followers nehi hai bakioke muqable.

(Suryakumar Yadav’s performance, in the last one year, has been better than all those six batters. But you did not ask me a single question about him. It is because he does not have as many followers on social media compared to other players.)”

“Aapne pehla naam Virat Kohli ka liya, Suryakumar ka nahi liya. Virat ke baad shayad aap Rohit ka leti ya KL Rahul ka leti. But performance wise, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar ke ilawa team mein aur kisike paas bhi nahin hai 

(Even you first took the name of Virat Kohli, not Suryakumar. May be, Rohit Sharma would be next, then KL Rahul. But based on performance, Suryakumar, and Hardik Pandya has been the best in the Indian team.),” he said. “

Hero Worship Leading To India’s Failure At ICC Events: Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir finished by saying that the main cause of India’s ICC trophy drought has been “hero worship.” 

“Indian team World Cup kiliye jaati hai toh hero worship nehin. India team ki worship kariye. Yehi sabse bara karan hai ki hum 2011 se 2022 tak ek bhi ICC trophy nehin jeet paaye kyunki hero worship se uth hi nehi paye

(When the Indian team leaves for World Cup, then we should all stop this hero worship. Worship the team. In fact, this has been the main reason why India have not been able to win any ICC trophies between 2011 and 2022.),” he added. 

Also Read: IND vs PAK: “When The Time Is Right, We Will Start Playing Pakistan Again”: Roger Binny