Former India opener has spoken up against hero worship in India and said that broadcasters and media should focus on other performers too. He did not take any names but believes that all-round maestro India won the 2007 and 2011 World Cups because of Yuvraj Singh but PR teams and marketing portrayed someone else as the main hero.
“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 (though Yuvraj did win the award in 2011, Shahid Afridi was the Man of the Tournament in the 2007 T20 World Cup). 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,” he said.
“No one is underrated, it’s all PR and marketing. We have been told who won us the 2007 and 2011 World Cups [but] it was not one individual it was the entire team. No one individual can win a big tournament. If that was the case, India would’ve had 5-10 World Cups,” Gambhir added.
This obsession reason behind India not winning ICC Trophy: Gautam Gambhir
Gambhir is also of the opinion that India was a country obsessed with individuals which is the reason behind the side not winning any ICC trophy for over a decade. “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,” he said.
“We consider individuals bigger than the team. 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,” he said.
Same happened after 1983 ODI World Cup: Gautam Gambhir
Gambhir also cited the example of India's 1983 World Cup victory and said that despite Mohinder Amarnath winning the man' of the match' in the semi-final and the final, one can only see Kapil Dev's photo of India lifting the world cup.
"How many people talk about Mohinder Amarnath? Ask any of these people, how many times have they seen Mohinder Amarnath’s photo with the 1983 World Cup,” he said.
“How was Mohinder Amarnath Ji’s performance in the World Cup? 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!” Gambhir added.
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