India is a cricket crazy nation. The nation treats their cricketers as gods, a result of which there are a lot of blokes who've gone on to become slightly self centred. The obsession with stars and their records is so high in the nation, that we celebrate every individual milestone with pride, instead of celebrating the team's success and achievements. And hence one sees our superstars having most number of records coming for a losing cause. The same is the reason why India is a team of world class individuals, who is unable to win world cups and ICC titles.

And it can be seen on a numerous occasions now. Earlier when the game wasn't much flourished, the people who played the game did it purely for their love. A result of which one always saw them playing their heart out for the team, and not for their own records. One therefore saw every member of the team give it all for the team's cause in the 1983 world cup, which turned the tide in India's favour forever. One could also see the same with Gautam Gambhir, who always performs for the team, excel in the world cup final of 2011 WC which India won. But now it seems like only a handful of players aren't self-centred. And honestly it's even sad to see the celebrated heroes of the team do so.

Its known to the world the MS Dhoni is worshipped by the Chennai Super Kings fans. And obviously its his legacy which is responsible for it. But at times the love which turns into infatuation can be lethal. One saw the same happen with Dhoni when he refused a single to Daryl Mitchell. Without a doubt the fans want Dhoni to bat, but by doing so Dhoni made it clear that he wants that attention and hype that he can deny the single. 4 years back as well, Dhoni once entered field to oppose the umpires, and still got away from it. The same reflects in the fans as well, who celebrated the newly appointed captain Ruturaj's wicket knowing that he had scored 98 runs, as Dhoni was about to bat next.

Responding to the crowd as they want to see you bat is still fine, but there are occasions when Indian stars can't take criticism. When commentators criticized Virat for his low strike rate, they were speaking truth as the scorecard suggested so. And then Virat covered it with good hitting, but what if he was out on that low strike rate. Virat who claims that he doesn't listen to the noise, responded by saying that someone who hasn't played doesn't have the right to say about him. Why doesn't he have the right to do so when his job is to say what is happening and he just stated what just happened?

At some point even some fans seconded this thought of Virat, stating that the world class commentator hasn't played at that level. It is true, but then why is Virat contradicting his own statement when a legend like Sunil Gavaskar speaks about him. Someone of the stature of Gavaskar has always played for the nation, and has always criticized every player including Sachin when he hasn't performed. And being a former legend, he definitely had the right to say so. In that case why does Virat secretly imply that he still doesn't stand to the criticism of Gavaskar? It is because nowadays the players consider to be bigger than the game.

And If someone is to be blamed for it, then it is the excessive love of fans, and the overuse of social media. Earlier, the game wasn't much cash rich as there wasn't much viewership. But after the arrival of Sachin Tendulkar, things started to change significantly. He brought huge fanbases to the game. Apart from just the fanbases, he brought money and heavy sponsorships to the game. And yet, always he remained grounded and made sure he is only responding through his on-field actions rather than pretending that he doesn't care about critics, but still ending up giving public statements about them. But the same cannot be said about this generation of players.

And the IPL has to be blamed for it. Indian Premier League divided the Indian fans into different fanbases, with players being the face of franchise. The fanbases defended even the worst actions of their players. And what aided them is the unlimited internet access from 2016. The fanbases acted like PR agencies, and instead of criticizing their own players for their failures, they started to defame others. This unwavering support from the fans to their star players gave the players a godly feeling of being superior to everyone, if not bigger than the game. And that's where the self obsession went to a different level altogether.

Due to this, one often sees stars of the game act in a particular way, which even they know is not right. But knowing that their name is a brand and knowing that fanbases will always defend them, the players now don't care about anyone. What they care more is about their individual milestones, individual centuries, individual credit and their brand name. And hence one saw one of the best finishers play slowly in the 2019 semi final. Hence one saw the King refusing a single against New Zealand in 2023 World Cup league stage match even at a critical stage, as he was reaching to his century. And the same is a big reason why now players don't like to hear anything about them from the critics.

When Gautam Gambhir said that we are a nation of self-centred and milestone-obsessed individuals, he wasn't wrong one bit. But the fanbases even went to target the the world cup hero as he spoke facts. He also stated that Australia is successful because they play for the team, which makes them the most successful nation of cricket. And he was absolutely right. India has always been a player obsessed nation. Which is why in spite of having Sachin Tendulkar with 100 centuries, we could only win 1 world cup out of the 6 that he played. Which is why in spite of having the best batter of this generation, India is yet to win a ICC title post 2013. Obviously not every player is the same. And even in this generation, there is someone like Rohit Sharma who is epitome of selflessness and who always keeps the team's interest ahead of him. But just one Rohit Sharma isn't going to win us trophies. It will only happen when most of the individuals, if not all will be team centred and not self-centred. We wish to see it happen soon, because if it does, only the we will win the most prestigious titles.