At a time when Team India are on the backfoot after their embarrassing home defeat to New Zealand, head coach Gautam Gambhir chose to take his critics, especially those on social media, head-on.
The 0-3 setback against the Black Caps was unprecedented and so the team has been facing the backlash from various quarters. As Gambhir fronted questions during a media conference in Mumbai on Monday, the former India opener was asked about his opinion on the criticism the team and he as the coach were facing on social media.
Gambhir replied: “What difference does it (social media) make, tell me? Social media... what difference does it make in my life? And for that matter, anyone’s life? When I took up this job, I always thought it’s going to be a highly difficult job and highly prestigious job as well. And honestly, I don’t think as if I’m feeling the heat, because my job is to be absolutely honest.”
While Gambhir has every right to express his opinion in the manner he deems fit, one got confused about his take on social media as he has always been very active on that platform. He commands 12.8m followers on his official handle on X, while there are 10.5 million followers on his official Instagram account.
It’s not that Gambhir uses his social media accounts only for commercial or promotional purposes. When he was a BJP MP, he often shot political criticism at his rivals via social media. Like in 2022, Gambhir, criticising the then Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the Ghazipur landfill row case, wrote on X (then Twitter): “Chunav mendak aasman dekh kar nikalte hain, takhlife dekh kar nahin.”
Criticism, by the way, is usually termed as “outside noise” in the current Team India set-up.