Dear cricketers, you were not born as demi-Gods. It’s what your fans made you. Give respect if you want to earn respect. Simple.
In India, cricketers are demi-Gods. That’s no new fact isn’t it. That cricketers are adored, admired and emulated isn’t a recent phenomenon either. When they play, everything comes to a standstill. The younger lot is glued on to every word they say, to the extent of buying products that they promote, style them up in similar fashion and so on. So, there’s a lot of responsibility these cricketing stars need to shoulder, not just from a cricketing perspective, but also from a personality context.
Rohit Sharma was recently caught saying, “critics are actually like girlfriends; they never stop thinking about you.†Nothing particularly wrong about that statement, but it just shows the kind of attitude issues some cricketers tend to have these days. Most of this young crop of players are from humble backgrounds, but humility is something they shed like a snake’s skin, as soon as the summits are touched. Using abusive language on field, sledging like uncouth individuals and fist fights are just the tip of the iceberg. Yes, what happens on field can be attributed to being in the flow. However, what happens outside the field, in front of thousands of lensmen, is pretty public and presumably, said in proper sane conditions.
That’s when these cricketers need to act responsibly. There’s nothing wrong in expressing an opinion. Our country’s freedom of speech definitely allows every individual to speak out his/her mind. However, for a public figure, this freedom of speech comes with certain ‘conditions apply’ tag. They might want to express freely, but it would be wiser to handpick words that let them communicate effectively and smartly. For example, when a player hurls abuses, young kids looking to be like them become curious and upon not getting answers from people around, they try a hand at finding out on their own. That’s when trouble begins to brew. For young kids, it’s legitimate: when a Kohli can, why can’t we?
Cricketers first need to respect the game, its ideals and everyone associated with it. Be it team-mates, opponents, officials, fans or critics, they need to give each of one of them their due respect. Ridiculing a section because they point out their mistakes is not fair at all, especially given that the media will play it up and fans, again, the younger lot, will assume that there’s no harm in doing that.
Dear cricketers, you were not born as demi-Gods. It’s what your fans made you. Give respect if you want to earn respect. Simple.