Rahul Dravid disagrees with Gambhir's anti-superstar stance: We need heroes
Rahul Dravid has pushed back against Gautam Gambhir's call to end superstar culture in Indian cricket, arguing that every sport needs heroes.
Former coach Rahul Dravid has made it clear that he isn't essentially a fan of Gautam Gambhir's idea of ending the superstar culture within Indian cricket. Gambhir has been a vocal advocate of tending to celebrate individual achievements to come to an end and that the success of the team should be given more importance.
While Dravid didn't find any issue with the idea from Gambhir, he said that every sport needs its fair share of heroes and the individual accolades do play a role in the success of the team. The former India captain played during an era where Indian cricket had superstars in the form of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag. This famed core took Indian cricket to new heights.
So, Dravid said that in India, you cannot become a hero without their performances backing it up.
“Any sport needs its heroes, and I don’t think people become heroes without performances. You can’t capture the imagination of a nation if you don’t deliver on the field, especially in India, where you get a lot of praise for what you do, but also a lot of brickbats. There’s a lot of scrutiny and constant focus on you. So to become a legend or a superstar in India means you’ve done a lot of things right, and in the process, you’ve also helped your team win,” Dravid told Wisden on the Scoop podcast.
TOUGH TO REPLACE ROHIT, KOHLI
Dravid weighed in on India's performances in Test cricket recently, which hasn't been the best under Gambhir. India suffered home series whitewashes under Gambhir against New Zealand and South Africa.
Dravid said that replacing the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and R Ashwin won't be easy, but expects the team to bounce back and perform well.
“The passion to do well in red-ball cricket is definitely there. We’ve had a couple of series where we haven’t performed as well as an Indian team, and that can happen. We are also missing a few key players, with some of the big names having recently retired – Rohit, Virat and Ashwin – and it is not easy to replace players like that. But Indian cricket remains very strong. I still believe the Indian team will be competitive in every format it plays. It may take a little time, but hopefully this season we will be able to turn things around,” said Dravid.
Dravid also said that with a lot of white-ball cricket being played, it does become tough for players to switch between formats.
Former coach Rahul Dravid has made it clear that he isn't essentially a fan of Gautam Gambhir's idea of ending the superstar culture within Indian cricket. Gambhir has been a vocal advocate of tending to celebrate individual achievements to come to an end and that the success of the team should be given more importance.
While Dravid didn't find any issue with the idea from Gambhir, he said that every sport needs its fair share of heroes and the individual accolades do play a role in the success of the team. The former India captain played during an era where Indian cricket had superstars in the form of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag. This famed core took Indian cricket to new heights.
So, Dravid said that in India, you cannot become a hero without their performances backing it up.
“Any sport needs its heroes, and I don’t think people become heroes without performances. You can’t capture the imagination of a nation if you don’t deliver on the field, especially in India, where you get a lot of praise for what you do, but also a lot of brickbats. There’s a lot of scrutiny and constant focus on you. So to become a legend or a superstar in India means you’ve done a lot of things right, and in the process, you’ve also helped your team win,” Dravid told Wisden on the Scoop podcast.
TOUGH TO REPLACE ROHIT, KOHLI
Dravid weighed in on India's performances in Test cricket recently, which hasn't been the best under Gambhir. India suffered home series whitewashes under Gambhir against New Zealand and South Africa.
Dravid said that replacing the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and R Ashwin won't be easy, but expects the team to bounce back and perform well.
“The passion to do well in red-ball cricket is definitely there. We’ve had a couple of series where we haven’t performed as well as an Indian team, and that can happen. We are also missing a few key players, with some of the big names having recently retired – Rohit, Virat and Ashwin – and it is not easy to replace players like that. But Indian cricket remains very strong. I still believe the Indian team will be competitive in every format it plays. It may take a little time, but hopefully this season we will be able to turn things around,” said Dravid.
Dravid also said that with a lot of white-ball cricket being played, it does become tough for players to switch between formats.
