Gautam Gambhir column: Unnecessary chants can invite negative mindset towards India

It's been a week of upsets with Afghanistan beating England in Delhi and the Netherlands getting it past South Africa. These two results have surely opened up the points table and teams like Australia would be happy with these outcomes. Personally I feel that the teams seem to have lost the art of accumulating runs in those middle overs that is why they are losing wickets in a heap and these upsets are being caused. All they need is that ability to rotate the strike when boundaries are not coming, something that Indian middle order does efficiently.

While our team — India — have won three out of three games, I am not sure we as their supporters have won hearts. Our turnout during non-India matches has been abysmal making me wonder if we really love this game or we just love Indian superstars and the frenzy around them.

Then, we gave an earful to Naveen-ul Haq in Delhi just because he stood up for himself against Virat Kohli during IPL.

Later on, we booed Babar Azam at the toss in Ahmedabad and shouted unnecessary chants at outgoing Pakistani batsmen. It is unthinkable that a society that gave the world the very thought of “Whole World Is A Family” is sounding so parochial.

We need to wear a more neutral outlook if we have to win the Olympic Games bid for 2036. Any deviation from this can invite a negative mindset towards India as a host for the Games. Pakistan Team Director Mickey Arthur was scathing in his criticism saying it didn’t seem like an ICC event. I was there in Ahmedabad commentating on the game and wasn’t feeling that proud either noticing such partisan behaviour. I am all for rivalries and supporting team of your choice but that doesn’t give us the licence to run the opposition down.

Today we are in Pune for the India vs Bangladesh game. Once again I think it is going to be an easy outing for India. I’d like to see Mohammed Shami play this game in place of Shardul Thakur. As a captain I’d like to give Shami some game time rather than he develop rust sitting out. It would be good to see how Shami goes with both new and old ball. If he is in the house today then we will surely get to see some reverse swing irrespective we play on red or a black soil pitch.

I thought Shardul the batsman at number 8 was too much of a luxury in Ahmedabad that India could have done without. Rest of the Indian team can be the same as last game.

Rohit Sharma’s intent has set a very commanding tone for India. By scoring runs upfront he is also giving out a statement with his positive intent to live it large and not get bogged down by expectations.

This not only rubs off on the batsmen but on the entire team. Currently Rohit the captain is coming out punching from ball one therefore the team is playing fearless brand of cricket. I won’t be surprised if he is amongst runs today as well against a Bangladesh bowling attack which can be termed “steady” at best.

It was heartening to see Shreyas Iyer handle the short ball well in the last game against Pakistan. He stuttered a bit once in a while but was confident in his approach. He will be dished out similar stuff today and a lot more in the coming games against New Zealand, England and South Africa.

At the time of writing this there was no clarity whether Shakib Al Hasan will play or not. Irrespective, Bangladesh seemed to be mired in their own cobwebs which gives them little space to knockout an opposition like India. — Gameplan/Dinesh Chopra Media

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