There’s nothing more terrible than seeing a sportsman turn bitter with age. It’s horrible to see teammates squabble. In football we’ve seen it numerous times, most famously when Manchester United legend Roy Keane’s contract was torn up and he hasn’t stopped spewing hate about Manchester United till now. Closer home, Vinod Kambli has often made less than charitable remarks about his friend Sachin Tendulkar and it honestly hurts to see teammates fall out. And now we are seeing a similar level of bitterness from Gautam Gambhir, who seems to be extremely angry about MS Dhoni’s biopic. Gambhir posted a picture on Twitter which said: “I don’t believe in biopics on cricketers. I think those people, who have contributed more to the country than cricketers, deserve a biopic. There are lots of people in the country who have done so many noble deeds for the nation. Therefore biopics should be made on their lives.”
Further, following the attack on the 17 martyrs at Uri’s Baramulla district by a suicide squad from Pakistan, Gambhir tweeted how he thinks these martyrs deserve a biopic better than any cricketer, because “there’s no better inspiration than a young man sacrificing his life for his country.” He further added that it was the 17 martyrs (who died in the Uri attack), who deserved their own biopic. He wrote on Twitter: “These 17 martyrs deserve a biopic rather than any cricketer. No better inspiration than a young man sacrificing his life 4 his country. And these Jawans sacrifice their lives for paltry salaries n not disproportionate money & adulation reserved for us cricketers. Wake up. My detractors got it wrong. Am not against ANY ONE cricketer's biopic, am against d very concept which includes a biopic on my life. (sic)”
We don’t know but using the 17 martyrs to make a point feels extremely shallow. Even his clarification doesn’t help. Come on Gambhir, you were a legend, man!! Gambhir who has always displayed his patriotism on sleeves finally resorted to cheap tactics of bringing up the death of Uri martyrs to score a brownie point. By doing this, he not only negated the memory of all the freedom fighters, he fell to the level of the politicians he has taken potshots at. Not expected from a man of Gambhir's stature. Sadly, a man who played a pivotal role in both World Cup final wins in 2007 and 2011 has let his country down.
