NEW DELHI: One of the finest top-order batters and World Cup winner, Gautam Gambhir on Thursday took a jibe at the social media culture, pointing out that there has been a tendency to celebrate individuals more than the team in the country.
Gambhir’s remarks came in context to the the 2011 World Cup triumph as he reiterated that the title win was a collective effort. Pointing out that social media has been biased, Gambhir felt that other performers apart from MS Dhoni aren’t celebrated enough.
“Do we celebrate Yuvraj Singh enough for what he did in the 2011 World Cup with all the health concerns he had? Do we celebrate Zaheer Khan’s opening spell enough? To start off a World Cup final with four maiden overs is incredible, and yet he isn’t given enough credit. Do we celebrate Sachin Tendulkar‘s efforts enough? Yes, we celebrate him and the win, but how many remember he was the highest scorer in the World Cup with two hundreds to his name? Do we celebrate Harbhajan Singh’s spell against Pakistan in Mohali, or Suresh Raina’s innings against Australia in Ahmedabad and Pakistan in Mohali? Both these innings were match-winning efforts,” Gambhir said in the chat on RevSportz.
“While we celebrate MS Dhoni’s innings in the final, we should celebrate these other efforts as much. No one innings could win India the trophy. It was a collective effort, and should be celebrated as such. It is because of social media that we don’t do it. Social media is biased and we all know that. But social media doesn’t make it the truth. There is always a tendency on social media to celebrate individuals more than the team. In doing so, what happens is we don’t celebrate key performers who had as much a part to play. And that’s an issue for sure. All I will say is we should celebrate the entire team. While we celebrate Dhoni, we should also celebrate the others who all played very important roles in the Indian win,” he explained.
Gambhir scored a match-defining 97 in the 2011 World Cup Final against Sri Lanka. The knock helped India win the title after 28 years.
Gambhir represented India in 58 Tests, 147 ODIs and 37 T20Is.
Gambhir’s remarks came in context to the the 2011 World Cup triumph as he reiterated that the title win was a collective effort. Pointing out that social media has been biased, Gambhir felt that other performers apart from MS Dhoni aren’t celebrated enough.
“Do we celebrate Yuvraj Singh enough for what he did in the 2011 World Cup with all the health concerns he had? Do we celebrate Zaheer Khan’s opening spell enough? To start off a World Cup final with four maiden overs is incredible, and yet he isn’t given enough credit. Do we celebrate Sachin Tendulkar‘s efforts enough? Yes, we celebrate him and the win, but how many remember he was the highest scorer in the World Cup with two hundreds to his name? Do we celebrate Harbhajan Singh’s spell against Pakistan in Mohali, or Suresh Raina’s innings against Australia in Ahmedabad and Pakistan in Mohali? Both these innings were match-winning efforts,” Gambhir said in the chat on RevSportz.
“While we celebrate MS Dhoni’s innings in the final, we should celebrate these other efforts as much. No one innings could win India the trophy. It was a collective effort, and should be celebrated as such. It is because of social media that we don’t do it. Social media is biased and we all know that. But social media doesn’t make it the truth. There is always a tendency on social media to celebrate individuals more than the team. In doing so, what happens is we don’t celebrate key performers who had as much a part to play. And that’s an issue for sure. All I will say is we should celebrate the entire team. While we celebrate Dhoni, we should also celebrate the others who all played very important roles in the Indian win,” he explained.
Gambhir scored a match-defining 97 in the 2011 World Cup Final against Sri Lanka. The knock helped India win the title after 28 years.
Gambhir represented India in 58 Tests, 147 ODIs and 37 T20Is.