New Delhi: Team India's former opener Gautam Gambhir, who in the past has strongly criticized the prevalent culture of 'hero worshiping' in Indian cricket, reignited the hot topic when a news channel started discussion on Virat Kohli. During the debate, Gambhir suggested that instead of Kohli or Rohit, Suryakumar Yadav or Hardik Pandya should be talked about as the two young players have emerged as leading performers for Men in Blue.
Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya have performed exceptionally well for India in shortest format and hold the key for the national team going into the T20 World Cup 2022.
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During an interaction with Zee, Gambhir said, "Aap Indian cricket ki baat kariye. Indian team ki baat honi zaruri hai. Hero worship nahi hona chaiye par hota hai kyunki media brands banati hai. Suryakumar Yadav ka pichle ek saal mein jo pradarshan raha hai Indian team ke liye woh, mujhe lagta hai ki jo 6 ballebaaz hai unse better hai. But aapne usske baare mein ek bhi sawal nahi pucha. Kyunki uske paas social media mein utne followers nehi hai bakioke muqable."
Aapne pehla naam Virat Kohli ka liya, Suryakumar ka nahi liya. Virat ke baad shayad aap Rohit ka leti ya KL Rahul ka leti. But performance wise, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar ke ilawa team mein aur kisike paas bhi nahin hai."
Gambhir said that hero worship culture in India is one the biggest reasons why India has not won a single ICC trophy since 2011.
"Indian team World Cup kiliye jaati hai toh hero worship nehin, India team ki worship kariye. Yehi sabse bara karan hai ki hum 2011 se 2022 tak ek bhi ICC trophy nehin jeet paaye kyunki hero worship se uth hi nehi paye.,” he added.