India suffered a humiliating defeat against Australia in the World Test Championship final at The Oval, losing by 209 runs. Indian fans have been in a state of immense sorrow since then, as the wait for another ICC trophy continues. While experts have been giving their take on the team's performance, Gautam Gambhir spoke on some of the issues he feels are prevalent in Indian cricket.
According to the two-time IPL winning captain, some individual cricketers have been made to look bigger than the team by their PR teams. Although Gambhir didn't name the players in particular, fans are speculating them to be MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli. Gambhir has always been known for dropping bombshells and his latest revelation was no less.
“He (Yuvraj) always says I won the World Cup, but I believe that the man who took us to the finals of the 2011 and 2007 World Cups was Yuvraj Singh, I think he was the man of the tournament in both tournaments,” Gambhir told News18.
“I am not sure. But it’s unfortunate that when we talk about the 2007 and 2011 World Cups, we don’t take Yuvraj Singh’s name. Why not? It’s only and only marketing and PR and portraying one individual as the biggest and everyone else as smaller than him. A lot of people won’t say this but this is the truth and I think I should say this because it should come in front of the world: our country is not a team-obsessed country but an individual-obsessed country,” Gambhir added.
Gambhir also quoted examples of England, New Zealand and Australia, citing that they keep team above individuals. He criticised the PR firms of the cricketers and the broadcasters for making the individual cricketers look bigger than the team as a unit, and said that it is one of the major reasons behind India not winning an ICC title since 2013.
“In other countries, in England, Australia and New Zealand, the team is bigger than the individual. All the stakeholders in Indian cricket, from the broadcaster and the media to everyone: all of them have been reduced to a PR agency. If the broadcasters won’t give you the credit, you’ll always be underrated. This is the biggest truth. This is why we haven’t won an ICC tournament for so long because we are so obsessed with individuals,” the 41-year-old said.
Did any one of you know that Mohinder Amarnath ji was the Man of the Match in the 1983 World Cup final: Gambhir
Gambhir opined that individual-worshipping dates back to the 1983 World Cup. Captain Kapil Dev was hailed as a master tactician as he marshalled his troops to achieve greatness. However, Gambhir mentioned the important role played by Mohinder Amarnath in the tournament.
“You’ve only seen Kapil Dev ji lifting the trophy, right? Mohinder Amarnath ji was the Man of the Match in the semi-final and in the final. Did any one of you know that Mohinder Amarnath ji was the Man of the Match in the final? (The audience replies no) That’s the problem. Till date only one photo is shown from the 1983 World Cup – Kapil Dev ji lifting that trophy. Show Mohinder Amarnath ji as well sometimes!,” he concluded.
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