Former India Cricket Team star Sanjay Manjrekar believes that India suffers the most during its transition phase. And that is primarily owing to the icon culture that is present in India. And with the icon culture comes the hero worship from fans which in turn helps the team get into a slump. He also claimed that when big players approach the end of their careers, fans start to lose their rationale.
The India Cricket Team is currently set to undergo a transition as it did back in 2011-12. Sanjay Manjrekar argued that cricketing logic goes out of the window when the iconic players extend their dying careers thereby dragging the entire team with them.
Icons drag the entire team down claims Manjrekar
“This ‘generational slump’ is inevitable for all teams. It’s what we know as the transition phase and among the best teams in the world, I believe it affects India the most. The one foremost reason behind this is the icon culture we have in India and the hero worship of certain players. Be it 2011-12 or now, it’s the same scenario that gets played out — iconic players featuring prominently doing the opposite of what they did their entire careers, thereby dragging the team down with their diminished performances,” Manjrekar wrote on the Hindustan Times
Sanjay Manjrekar explained that the emotions of the fans run very high when it comes to the big players. He explained the fallacy where the selectors believe that the player would leave on their own. He argued that selectors don’t take bold calls of dropping senior players for fear of facing mega backlash from the fans.
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Icons past their prime needs to go
“Thing is, when it comes to the big players, we as a country are just not able to stay rational. Emotions run high and those in positions to take decisions on these players are influenced by this climate. Cricketing logic goes out of the window and then the selectors hope the player leaves on his own so that they don’t look like the villains who brutally ended the career of a great who millions of fans worship. They just fear the backlash,” he wrote.
Lastly, Majrekar also claimed that Team India, iconic players have the tendency to continue to play when they are way past their prime. He claimed that these players still want to carry on when their performances continue to drop with every passing day.
“If the player does not quit on his own, then Indian cricket has a problem. As a rule, our icons—barring very few—stay around too long well past their prime with their performances dropping to abysmal levels. In their heart, selectors and the administration know that they are essentially conforming to the sentiments of the masses,” Manjrekar concluded.
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