Gautam Gambhir lashes out at PR, marketing of individuals: 'One player can't win you a major tournament'

Indian cricket considers 1983, 2007 and 2011 as momentous years with World Cups in ODI and T20 formats. Kapil Dev was immortalised for the success in 1983 when he took an unfancied team to glory over West Indies. In 2007 and 2011, it was MS Dhoni’s turn to be heralded. However, former India player Gautam Gambhir believes highlighting one player for major titles is unfair on what is always a team effort. He pointed out the contribution of Yuvraj Singh in the victorious runs during 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup.

“Despite suffering from cancer, Yuvraj produced amazing performances. He always says I won India World Cup but to me, if there’s anyone who got India into the finals of the T20 World Cup and ODI World Cup, it has to be Yuvraj," Gambhir said to News18. He added, “Again, it’s unfortunate when we talk about 2007 T20 WC, 2011 ODI World Cup, we don’t talk about Yuvraj. This is all marketing, PR to project one individual above everyone else." Gambhir, part of the 2011 World Cup squad, didn’t take names but responded, “We all know who keeps getting credited for winning the 2007 and 2011 world cups. An individual cannot do that, the entire team is responsible. A major tournament cannot be won by a single individual and if that was the case, India would have 5-10 world titles." To highlight his point, Gambhir gave the example of Mohinder Amarnath during the 1983 World Cup. “How many people talk about Mohinder Amarnath? Ask anyone from here how many times they have seen Mohinder Amarnath’s picture, what his contribution was? In semifinal and final, it was Mohinder Amarnath who was the man of the match. This is the problem. Still today we keep showing that picture of Kapi Devji lifting the trophy. Do show Mohinder Amarnath’s picture as well," Gambhir added. Read all the Latest News, Trending News,  Cricket News, Bollywood News,  India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.