'Mic pakadke kuch, rakhke kuch aur bolte hai': Gautam Gambhir blames broadcasters for star culture in Indian cricket

Former Indian cricketer, who was part of the World Cup-winning 2011 squad, and current BJP MP from East Delhi, Gautam Gambhir, spoke out about the preferential treatment meted out to certain players. He also said that till the time all 15 players in the dressing room are not treated equally, India will not win another World Cup. Gambhir blamed broadcasters for feeding into the star culture in Indian cricket. 

When asked about the time Gambhir’s innings was overshadowed by skipper MS Dhoni’s innings at the 2011 World Cup finale, the former batter said, “When people give the tag of ‘underrated’, they are the same people who actually ‘undershow’, ‘undervalue’ and ‘underappreciate’ a player. Nothing is underrated, it is under-shown and undervalued.”

He said for a team to get the desired results, the country needs to get over its obsession with stats. “It has been 12 years since India won a World Cup, and the reason is this – fortunately or unfortunately, our media, our broadcasters most importantly and our social media – if the broadcaster becomes a PR machinery for certain individuals then you will not get the desired results,” he said at ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash. 

Gambhir said that all the 15 players in the squad work equally hard to bag a spot in the dressing room and to represent the country. “But if the broadcaster becomes the PR machinery of one or two individuals, then the other 13 – and they might not be able to talk about it openly – but what must they be going through,” he said. 

The former batter said that they have been told that not everyone can fetch them numbers. “If you are not getting numbers then who is asking you to pay an exorbitant amount to telecast the matches? If you are bleeding then that can’t be the problem of the players. The players deserve to be fully appreciated for their game and their hard work,” said Gambhir. 

He also said that the power to turn a cricketer into a brand lies with a person who has never held a cricket bat or handled the pressure of performing in front of 1 lakh people or has held criticism. That individual, sitting in his AC room, decides the future of the players, said Gambhir. “What about the other 14 players?” he asked. 

“And then you call yourself a stakeholder of Indian cricket? You are not a stakeholder by any means! You are only a businessman looking to make money out of Indian cricket,” he said, clarifying that BCCI has been very, very fair. No one can end up representing India by working any less, he added. 

“Humare yahaan aaj kal kya hone laga hai, yeh mic pakadke kuch bolte hai aur mic neeche rakhke kuch aur bolte hai (What is now happening is that people hold the mic and say something but say something else entirely when they put the mic down),” said Gambhir continuing his criticism of broadcasters. 

Gambhir said that now social media followers dictate what you must say on social media and whom to credit. “Social media and your followers decide how much credit you should or should not get. This is not right. This is not how you will win the World Cup. Till the time we don’t see all the 15 players in the dressing room as equals, you will not get the desired results. The day we will become a team obsessed nation, that day we will win the World Cup and we will soon win the World Cup,” said Gambhir. 

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