‘It Was MS Dhoni Earlier & Virat Kohli Now’ Gautam Gambhir Addresses India’s Hero Worship Syndrome

Team India is eyeing on their next assignment in International cricket after a brief layoff. The star-studded team is now all set to kick off their home white-ball leg with a T20I encounter against Australia today (September 20). The IS Bindra Stadium of Mohali is assigned to be the venue for the much-anticipated series-opener. 

After the Australia series, Men In Blue will further take on Temba Bavuma’s South Africa as part of the same home leg. India would be desperate to commence the home leg on a positive note. It will play a big role in the team’s preparation ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022, which will take place in Australia. 

Gautam Gambhir reacts to the hero worship culture:

Meanwhile, India veteran Gautam Gambhir has come out in the open to address the hero worship culture in India. During an interaction with Indian Express, Gambhir cited an example from India’s recent Asia Cup match against Afghanistan. He confessed that even after taking a stellar five-wicket haul, Indian bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar was not praised enough as Virat Kohli, Who scored a century managed to take all the limelight on social media. 

Gambhir further mentioned former Indian skipper MS Dhoni’s name and added that the ‘hero worship’ culture in the country is prominent. It ‘chokes’ young players’ way up, said the delhi-born cricketer. He looked furious about the lack of praise given to Bhuvneshwar Kumar even after an equally good performance compared with Virat Kohli in the Afghanistan game. 

Here’s what Gautam Gambhir said:

“Do you think that this whole hero worship chokes the next star to come up? Nobody (no Indian cricketer) has grown in that shadow. It was MS Dhoni earlier. It’s (Virat) Kohli now.”

“Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled four overs & got 5 wickets (during IND vs AFG). I don’t think anyone knows about that. But Virat Kohli scores a 100 and there are celebrations everywhere in this country. India needs to come out of this hero-worship.”