Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir has slammed fans for worshiping players like Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni over the years and urged them not to cricket monsters.
Fans were left pleased after Kohli overcame his lean patch by scoring his 71st international century in the recently-concluded Asia Cup 2022. But the former opener said that supporters should not glorify individuals but the national team.
“Don’t create monsters in the dressing room. The only monster should be Indian cricket, not an individual. Do you think that this whole hero worship chokes the next star to come up? Nobody has grown in that shadow. It was Mahendra Singh Dhoni earlier, it is Virat Kohli now,” Gambhir told the Indian Express.
Other players ignored
Gambhir added that fans celebrated Kohli’s recent century. But they failed to acknowledge Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s five-wicket haul in the same match. “When Kohli got a 100 and there was this young guy from a small town of Meerut [Bhuvneshwar Kumar], who also managed to get five wickets, no one even bothered to speak about him. This was so unfortunate. I was the only one, during that commentary stint, who said that. He bowled four overs and got five wickets and I don’t think anyone knows about that,” Gambhir said.
Stop worshipping heroes
“But Kohli scores a 100 and there are celebrations everywhere in this country. India needs to come out of this hero worship. Whether it’s Indian cricket, whether it’s politics, whether it’s Delhi cricket. We have to stop worshipping heroes. The only thing that we need to worship is Indian cricket, or for that matter Delhi or India. Who created that? It is created by two things. First, social media followers, which is probably the fakest thing in this country because you are judged by how many followers you have. That is what creates a brand.” he concluded.
