Gautam Gambhir: "PR and marketing portrays one individual as the biggest and everyone else small"

Former India batter Gautam Gambhir launched a thinly-veiled attack against MS Dhoni and blamed "individualism" for India's failure to win ICC trophies.

Gambhir said Yuvraj Singh doesn't get any credit for winning the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 World Cup despite being India's best player in both. He blamed marketing and PR (public relations), stating that they promote only "one individual".

Without taking Dhoni's name, he alleged that India has been told that only "one individual" was behind the wins when neither was possible without a team effort. Gambhir scored a crucial 97 in the 2011 final while Dhoni, who scored 91* in that match, is fondly remembered for his winning six at the Wankhede Stadium.

"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.

"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.

"No one is underrated, it's all PR and marketing. We have been told who won us the 2007 and 2011 World Cups [but] it was not one individual it was the entire team. No one individual can win a big tournament. If that was the case, India would've had 5-10 World Cups," he concluded.

Gambhir argued that India hasn't won an ICC trophy in almost a decade because, unlike England, Australia, and New Zealand, India is an "individual-obsessed country", where a few players are considered bigger than the team.

He even said the whole broadcasting and media network works like a "PR agency" to show these players as the biggest and everyone else as "underrated".

"A lot of people won't say this but this is the truth and I think I should say this because it should come in front of the world: our country is not a team-obsessed country but an individual-obsessed country," Gambhir said.

"We consider individuals bigger than the team. In other countries, in England, Australia and New Zealand, the team is bigger than the individual. All the stakeholders in Indian cricket, from the broadcaster and the media to everyone: all of them have been reduced to a PR agency. If the broadcasters won't give you the credit, you'll always be underrated. This is the biggest truth. This is why we haven't won an ICC tournament for so long because we are so obsessed with individuals," he added.

Gambhir's comments came only a few hours after India lost the 2023 World Test Championship Final by 209 runs to Australia at the Oval.

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"You've only seen Kapil Dev ji lifting the trophy, right?" - Gautam Gambhir draws parallels with MS Dhoni and Kapil Dev

Gautam Gambhir said this "individualism" has been going on since the 1983 World Cup. He said everyone has forgotten all-rounder Mohinder Amarnath's contribution in that tournament because only Kapil Dev's trophy-lifting photo is shown everywhere.

"How many people talk about Mohinder Amarnath? Ask any of these people, how many times have they seen Mohinder Amarnath's photo with the 1983 World Cup," he said.

"How was Mohinder Amarnath Ji's performance in the World Cup? You've only seen Kapil Dev ji lifting the trophy, right? Mohinder Amarnath ji was the Man of the Match in the semi-final and in the final. Did any one of you know that Mohinder Amarnath ji was the Man of the Match in the final? (The audience replies no) That's the problem. Till date only one photo is shown from the 1983 World Cup - Kapil Dev ji lifting that trophy. Show Mohinder Amarnath ji as well sometimes!" he added.

Amarnath took three wickets and scored an important 26 (80) in the final against West Indies. He also scored 46 (92) along with a spell of 2/27 in the semifinal against England.