Former India cricketer and two-time World Cup winner, Gautam Gambhir, has voiced his opinion against 'hero worship' which has been prevalent in Indian cricket for a long time. And in a recent interview, ahead of the start of Team India's 2022 T20 World Cup campaign in Australia against arch-rivals Pakistan at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, Gambhir once again spoke on the subject while making a big statement on Virat Kohli and comparing him with one of his teammates in the World Cup squad.
Gambhir spoke on the topic during his discussion on the India versus Pakistan match with Zee. He feels that fans need to begin speaking on Indian cricket team as a unit and not about individual players which he explained has been prevalent owing to media who have transformed these players into a brand.
Gambhir exemplified his point by comparing on Suryakumar Yadav with some of the top cricketers in the India side including Kohli. He explained that even though Suryakumar has been India's best performer in the T20I format, fans and media have set their eyes on Kohli and Rohit Sharma because he feels that the former's social-media presence and following is far less than the two veteran 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. 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. 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 (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'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. 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.
{{/usCountry}}“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. 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. 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 (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'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. 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.
{{/usCountry}}Gambhir concluded his point by opining that 'hero worship' has been the primary reason behind India's ICC trophy drought.
"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.