“Let’s not create trolls in the dressing room as heroes, Indian cricket should be the troll there. Don’t create individual hero trolls,” says Gautam Gambhir. And when he told the Indian Express media, he called social media, including Facebook, ‘big fakes’. Learn to appreciate small and important contributions.
Gambhir went on to discuss with the media that ‘brand manufacturing’ is happening with the help of the media in Indian cricket. Kohli, Dhoni and Sachin are not just Indian players but big brands representing the corporate media. Our Kohli and Dhoni are the only ones who grew up in the shadow of this hero worship. Earlier Dhoni is now the goalie,” says Gambhir.
“What happened against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup?.. Kohli scored a century, Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 5 wickets in the same match but no one noticed Bhuvneshwar Kumar. This is very unfortunate. I was the only one who pointed this out in the comments. 4 overs and 5 wickets, I don’t think anyone knows this.
But if Kohli scores a century, the whole country is talking about it. India needs to get out of this hero worship of athletes. Be it Indian cricket, Indian politics or Delhi cricket, we have to come out of this hero worship mentality. We should celebrate Indian cricket.
Where does the hero worship attitude come from? One is social media. This is followed by many, and this is the most fake thing in the country. His worth is determined by how many people follow him, which is pure sham. This is brand building.
2nd Central media, cricket broadcasters. If the same player is talked about day in and day out, he becomes a brand. Why start with Dhoni, start with 1983 World Cup. When India won the first World Cup, they said that it was all about Kapil.
They said it was Dhoni when we won in 2007 and 2011. Who made it, none of the players did it. Neither did the BCCI. It was the broadcasters and the media that did this, have they ever talked about Indian cricket? There are more than 2 or 3 people who are the stakeholders of Indian cricket. They should not rule Indian cricket.
15 men in the dressing room should rule Indian cricket. Everyone contributes. I have never worshiped anyone in my life and I think this is my problem. Media and broadcasters build brands.
Before the 2011 World Cup semi-final, 2-3 senior players came to me and asked me to win the trophy. Because they said we should hijack the 1983 conversation. They wanted to end the 1983 World Cup.
I said, I’m not here to finish anybody, I’m not here to belittle anybody. I said we will win and expand our line. If 1983 players who are commentators in 2011 talk about 1983, they are talking about the salary they are paid, we have to win because we want this country to be happy.
What happened when Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 5 wickets in the Asia Cup, they gave him the mic for 5 minutes and that’s it. Why, he’s not brand. He is also a hard worker. He also comes from a simple background. Shouldn’t he be as proud as Kohli? Because he is unsalable and won’t match the TRP rating. If the marketing team can’t sell someone, that’s their problem.
This position has existed since 1983. When I was captain of Kolkata Knight Riders I brought a culture of appreciating small contributions.
Gautam Gambhir has said this.
From global to local news (Top Tamil News, Breaking News), Latest Tamil News, all can be found instantly on News18 Tamil (News18Tamil.com) website.
News18 Tamil Nadu TV can be found on ARASU CABLE – 50, TCCL – 57, SCV – 28, VK Digital – 30, SUN DIRECT DTH: 71, TATA PLAY: 1562, D2H: 2977, AIRTEL: 782, DISH TV: 2977.