Soon after the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Gujarat Titans (GT) was over, and Shubman Gill had played an outstanding hand to push RCB out of the reckoning, his social media was flooded with abuse. These so-called Virat Kohli fans started abusing Gill for playing better and standing up for his team. Why did he, and how he could do this to Kohli and RCB was at the heart of the angst.
If only they had seen Kohli run the last two for Anuj Rawat from the last ball of RCB’s innings. He had already scored a 100 by then, and yet, he was sprinting the last run for his partner. And team. Yes, it is played by 11 individuals, but cricket is a team sport. Kohli was the perfect teamman when he was running for his junior partner. That’s what he has always done in his career. And Gill is an India teammate. Perhaps the successor to Kohli in many ways. Gill was doing what is expected of him. Win the game for his team.
In all honesty, these fans aren’t doing justice to Kohli or to their fandom by abusing Gill. This isn’t support. This is fanatical, maniacal behaviour which reeks of perversion. These are trolls, not fans. And they are a disgrace to the sport.
There were three outstanding hundreds on Sunday. Cameron Green was stellar against Sunrisers Hyderabad, and then Kohli played the best innings of his IPL campaign in the must-win match against Gujarat. With wickets falling at the other end, it was Kohli who held the RCB innings together. Understandably, the stadium had a meltdown and his fans were all pumped up for him. This was the best he has played in a while, and it was natural that they would all want him to win and be there in the last four.
But it was Gill who was standing in the way. He has been sublime this season, and yet again it was an innings of exceptional quality. As India fans, we ought to celebrate both these knocks. The master and the protégé. A passing of the baton of sorts. And yet some of the maniacs abused Gill for doing his job. That’s what social media is about these days. Or rather a section of it. Unchecked abuse from faceless bigots with little or no accountability.
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Face to face with Gill, it can be surmised that each of these trolls would ask for autographs. Or better still, push him for selfies. And then from behind the veil, they heap abuse. Can they be booked for cyber crimes? Can there be any action initiated against such unmitigated abuse?
If we follow social-media trends, for example, any comment on Kohli is met with a strong reaction from those who call themselves “Rohitians”. And then we have the “Viratians” giving it back. Frankly, all this is pathetic divisiveness. This is not what we want to see in India in the coming weeks. No Viratian or Rohitian or Shubman-ian kind of divisiveness.
One camp versus the other is a good headline. The truth is that every achiever would want to win for his team. If they don’t, it is news. Not the other way round. If Kohli and Gill want to outdo each other as performers, it is only fair that they do so. It is natural that two of the best players on the park will rise to the occasion on the biggest stage.
Rohit or Gill or Kohli are very different personalities, with one common goal – excellence. They might well be playing for different teams, but the ultimate goal remains the same – win tournaments for the sides they play for. When I had interviewed Rohit soon after he scored the five hundreds in the 2019 World Cup, my assumption was that he would be super pleased with his own performance. The reality was that he wasn’t.
He kept asking what was the point of all those hundreds if the trophy had gone to another dressing room? Ask Kohli and he would say the same about his back-to-back hundreds for RCB. He will be disappointed at not being able to get the real job done, for individual accolades don’t really matter in a team sport. The sooner so-called fans understand this, the better. If they really care for the sport, which I very much doubt they do, this is the least that is expected of them.