Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has once again made news with his provocative statement. This time, he lashed out against the practice of “hero worship” in Indian cricket, considers the fixation with top talents, and says that the media and broadcasters should focus on other performers as well.
Gambhir, however, did not mention MS Dhoni’s name when he stated that one person and his PR team made him the hero of the 2007 and 2011 World Cups. However, Yuvraj Singh was the one who led India to the final of both tournaments, and it was Yuvraj Singh who led India to victory.
“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, and I think he was the man of the tournament in both tournaments,” Gambhir said in an interview with News18. “I believe that Yuvraj Singh was the man who took us to the finals of the 2011 and 2007 World Cups.”
“I am not entirely sure (even though Yuvraj did win the award in 2011, Shahid Afridi was the Man of the Tournament in the 2007 T20 World Cup).” It is regrettable that the name Yuvraj Singh is not brought up when we discuss the World Cups in 2007 and 2011.
Why shouldn’t they? “It’s nothing more than marketing and public relations, and portraying one person as the most important while making everyone else seem like they’re on a lower level than he is,” he explained.
It’s all a matter of public relations and marketing, therefore no one should be undervalued. We have been informed who won us the World Cup in 2007 and 2011, yet in both cases it was not a single player but rather the full team. A large event cannot be won by a single competitor alone. If that were the true, India would have won anywhere from five to ten World Cups,” he said.
Gambhir further stated that the reason India has not been able to win the ICC trophy in recent years is because the country is not a nation that is focused on teams but rather a society that is focused on the accomplishments of individuals.
He stated, “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.” “A lot of people won’t say this,” he continued. “But this is the truth.”