File photo of Gautam Gambhir© AFP
It was an IPL 2024 season full of twists and turns for Australian cricket team fast bowler Mitchell Starc. He was bought for a record Rs 24.75 crore by Kolkata Knight Riders and the price tag instantly put a lot of pressure on the veteran cricketer. Things did not improve as he made a bad start to his journey with KKR and was taken to the cleaners on multiple occasions. However, it was Starc who had the last laugh as he produced brilliant bowling performances in Qualifier 1 and the final to guide KKR to their third IPL title.
The uneven journey came with its own set of critics who were quite harsh towards the bowler but ended up praising him for his brilliance. In a chat show on Sportskeeda, an anchor asked Gautam Gambhir about the the critics’ opinion. The anchor also said that when the same thing was asked to former Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram, he called them girgit (chameleon).
However, KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir was not in agreement with Akram. The former Indian cricket team opener said that experts will always criticise players based on their recent performances and the only thing that should matter to the players is what their teammates think about him.
“It is the job of the experts and there is nothing to feel bad about. Experts judge you on your daily performances. If you get out on zero, they will criticise you. If you score a century, these same people will praise you. That is why I want to say that what the experts say, what the social media says, what the crowd says – it does not matter. What the people say in your dressing room think about you is important. People will keep doing their jobs – some criticise more and some criticise less. It is their nature or thought process,” Gambhir said during his interview on Sportskeeda.
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