India’s fervent passion for cricket and their obsession with individual milestones is no secret. While fans revel in their idols achieving significant feats, they can’t help but feel let down when those idols fall short of a century.
This hero-worship culture highlights a certain imbalance in the fans’ priorities, often favoring individual accomplishments over the team’s overall performance.
Not too long ago, Gautam Gambhir, a former team player during the peak of his cricketing career, implored fans to shift their focus from idolizing individuals to celebrating the Indian cricket team as a whole.
If this change were to happen, it could alleviate the pressure on players, allowing them to concentrate entirely on contributing to the team’s success and achieving greater heights in prestigious events like the ICC tournaments.
In a noteworthy moment during the 21st game of the ICC World Cup 2023 between India and New Zealand, Virat Kohli surprised Indian fans by refusing a single run to Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja had deftly guided Mitchell Santner’s delivery towards third man, where it appeared to be a straightforward “two.”
Never seen a more selfish player than chokli pic.twitter.com/MDUTwI6Amz
— 🌅 (@MissudeVilliers) October 22, 2023
He swiftly sprinted toward the non-striker’s end with the intent of completing two runs, but Kohli had other ideas and wasn’t interested in taking the second run.