Former India opener Gautam Gambhir reckons it’s Yuvraj Singh who took India to the finals of the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 World Cup and not just MS Dhoni. Without taking Dhoni’s name, he indirectly pointed out how the PR team and marketing made Dhoni the hero of the World Cups, and other match-winners were ignored or looked upon as underrated.
“He (Yuvraj) always says I won the World Cup but I believe that the man who took us to the finals of the 2011 and 2007 World Cups was Yuvraj Singh. I think he was the man of the tournament in both tournaments,” Gambhir told News18.
The BJP MP has often slammed hero worship and the media’s obsession with MS Dhoni. In 2020, he also called out ESPNCricinfo for crediting Dhoni’s six for the ODI World Cup victory and not the entire team. During the ODI WC, Yuvraj took the Player of the Tournament trophy for his all-round performance. He scored 362 runs at an average of 90.50, while with the ball, he scalped 15 wickets at an economy of 5.02.
“I am not sure (though Yuvraj did win the award in 2011, Shahid Afridi was the Man of the Tournament in the 2007 T20 World Cup). But it’s unfortunate that when we talk about the 2007 and 2011 World Cups, we don’t take Yuvraj Singh’s name. Why not? It’s only and only marketing and PR and portraying one individual as the biggest and everyone else as smaller than him,” he added.
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Gautam Gambhir cites Mohinder Amarnath’s example to prove his point
Gautam Gambhir pointed out how Mohinder Amarnath was the match-winner in both the semi-final and final during the 1983 ODI World Cup. But despite that, the media always showed Kapil Dev lifting the trophy just because he was the captain. Gambhir wants the media to show Amarnath’s picture as well while celebrating the World Cups.
Amarnath was awarded the Man of the Match in the semi-final and final of the 1983 World Cup. He scored 46 runs, and with the ball, he conceded just 27 runs at an economy of 2.25 in his 12 overs, including two wickets in the semi-final. In the final, he scalped three wickets conceding only 12 runs in his seven overs.
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