Even though KL Rahul played a match-winning knock of 97* runs against Australia, which helped India kick-start their World Cup 2023 campaign with a victory in Chennai, Rahul has received some criticism for his revelation about missing a century.
One of those who have slammed this “obsession” with stats and centuries, not just of KL Rahul, but also of the fans, is former batsman and 2011 World Cup final hero Gautam Gambhir.
India needed 5 more runs to win when KL Rahul was batting on 90*. He hit Pat Cummins for a six, but sat down on his haunches and looked disappointed: Rahul later revealed that he’d tried to chip it for a four and he would then aim for a six to get to a century, but timed that shoot too well as it went for a six and not a four as he intended.
A few fans and experts then expressed displeasure over Rahul not remaining content with a match-winning 97* and lamenting missing out on his hundred.
Gautam Gambhir tore into the number 5 batsman for this “obsession over stats”.
“For me, it really does not matter whether you score a hundred or you score whatever you end up scoring, if the team ends up winning. If you are staying until the end to take the team to victory, that is all that matters”.
“Let’s get done with this obsession over stats. Scoring a hundred does not matter, whether you can take your team to victory or not, that matters,” Gambhir said, as quoted by CricketAddictor.
A big reason why we have not won a ICC tournament: Gautam Gambhir
A big reason for India not winning an ICC tournament for the past decade, Gautam Gambhir feels, is the obsession with the stats of fans and cricketers. The former left-handed batter reckons a match-winning knock of even 30-40 is more important than a century that ends up in a losing cause.
“If you score 30, 40 or even 140, what matters in the end is whether the team won or not. I think our obsession with stats is one of the biggest reasons why we have not won a ICC tournament in so many years,” Gambhir added.
