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In the 70s and 80s, playing cricket for India was a way to earn a livelihood. Players had the pride of turning out for the country, of course. But unlike the stars of today, who are known for their fancy lifestyles, yesterday's cricketers had rather humble careers. They traveled in trains, were given meager salaries and were anything but lavish sportspersons.
The times have changed drastically. Cricketers of today lead grand lives and have access to the best of facilities. They also have star status that is unparalleled in world cricket. Most modern-day cricketers keep giving glimpses of their daily lifestyle and schedule to fans through social media.
A lot of retired Indian cricketers have also joined the social media bandwagon and are seen sharing their thoughts on the current state of affairs as well as nostalgic memories.
Indian cricketers not bitten by the social media bug
Even as the majority of current and past Indian cricketers have taken to social media like fish to water, a few have decided to stay away from the glare and prefer to keep their lives private. We take a look at five such Indian cricketers.
#1 Rahul Dravid
Indian legend Rahul Dravid is the first name that comes to mind when we talk of prominent cricketers missing from social media. The former India captain, who is currently coaching the Team India side in Sri Lanka, was a reserved character during his playing days as well. So it isn't surprising to see him stay away from social media. He has always preferred to let his work do all the talking.
Dravid does have a Facebook page, but there have been no updates on it for the past two years. In contrast, most of his contemporaries like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble are highly active on social media platforms.
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo’s Raunak Kapoor on Instagram about his absence from social media, Dravid said last year:
“There’s no particular reason behind why I am not on social media but that I don’t see any reason why I need to be active. I communicate with people on my phone.”
#2 Ashish Nehra
Former Team India left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra has also preferred to stay away from social media. The retired cricketer has an Instagram handle, which even has a blue tick and 11.6k followers. However, he hasn’t posted a single update and does not follow anyone as well.
Back in 2016, Nehra was asked why he is not on social media at a pre-match press conference. His response sent the journalists into splits. The former cricketer replied:
"I am somebody who is not on social media and I am still using my old Nokia."
A year later, Nehra interacted with Gaurav Kapur on the Show Breakfast With Champions. Here, he revealed that he even got an offer from an agency to post commercial tweets on the micro-blogging site. However, Nehra refused because he doesn’t like “being told to do something by someone”.
#3 Sandeep Patil
Unarguably the most flamboyant cricketer in the Indian team during his playing days, it is rather surprising that Sandeep Patil is not on any social media platforms. At the peak of his career, he even starred in a Hindi movie along with Syed Kirmani. Post retirement, though, Patil seems to have mellowed down a bit.
The fact that Patil is not on social media was confirmed when he filed a complaint against an unknown person for creating his fake profile on Facebook a couple of years back. The former cricketer was quoted as telling Mid-Day:
“I don’t have Facebook, Twitter or other social media accounts. One of my friends called me recently to ask why I was asking for the contact numbers of my cricket colleagues over social media. That’s when I realized that someone was misusing my name.”
#4 Nayan Mongia
One of India’s best glovemen, Nayan Mongia was a chirpy and effervescent presence behind the stumps during his playing days. When it comes to his antics behind the stumps, Rishabh Pant is very much in the Mongia mould. Of course, the former Baroda stumper lacked Pant’s flamboyance with the bat and was more of a dogged presence at the crease.
Considering the amount of advice Mongia had to offer to the Indian bowlers from behind the stumps, the former cricketer could have had some exciting insights to share on the game. He even took a positive step towards joining social media by creating a Twitter account in 2015. However, he hasn’t been active on the platform since.
#5 Dilip Vengsarkar
Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar’s cricket academy has a presence on social media. But the ex-cricketer himself has decided to stay away from Twitter and Instagram. He is on Facebook but isn’t active there either. It is mostly his friends who tag him in their posts.
Vengsarkar’s decision to stay away from social media is intriguing since he keeps sharing his views on Indian cricket with the media rather frequently. Recently, he made a bold observation when he told Hindustan Times that “every player must and needs to play all three formats.” Vengsarkar said he doesn’t believe in the red-ball and white-ball concept.
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