Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir recently made headlines for his statements about individual glorification in India following India’s loss in the WTC Final 2023 to Australia.
At The Oval in London, India went down by 209 runs to Pat Cummins‘ side to lose their second consecutive WTC Final, two years after losing to New Zealand in Southampton.
This loss extended India’s decade-long drought of an ICC title for the senior men’s team; Indian senior men’s team last won an ICC trophy back in 2013, the Champions Trophy in England.
When queried why India keep losing important matches in ICC tournaments, Gautam Gambhir spoke boldly about how this team is seen as team of certain individuals and not a collective group of people fighting for one cause. The former KKR captain slammed the “hero worship” culture in this country, saying that all media is now just “PR agency” of superstar players.
“Our country is not a team-obsessed country but an individual-obsessed country. We consider individuals bigger than the team. In other countries, in England, Australia and New Zealand, the team is bigger than the individual,” Gautam Gambhir told News18.
“All the stakeholders in Indian cricket, from the broadcaster and the media to everyone: all of them have been reduced to a PR agency. This is why we haven’t won an ICC tournament for so long because we are so obsessed with individuals.”
Many fans sided with Gautam Gambhir on his views about individual idealization among the fans and supported his views. Some even claimed that Gambhir should be brought into the Indian team as a coach or mentor to banish such culture in the team.
Here is how fans reacted to Gautam Gambhir’s strong statement:
