R Ashwin has joined India head coach Gautam Gambhir in criticizing the ‘personal’ attacks on Harshit Rana, without directly naming Kris Srikkanth.
Srikkanth, a former India batter and selector, had suggested that Gambhir was being partial towards Rana when the young pacer made it to the Indian teams across the three formats in the last six months. He made other similar comments over the course of the last few months on the YouTube channel he runs with his son, Anirudh.
Gambhir was asked about it after India beat the West Indies in the recent Delhi Test, and he called it ‘shameful’ that a 23-year-old pacer was being targeted for YouTube engagement.
“I have always reiterated that no player should be attacked below the belt,” Ashwin, who used to be good friends with Anirudh growing up, said. “When the attack becomes too personal, the genre changes. I would like to talk about Sanjay Manjrekar, who has criticized me throughout my career. But I have never held any grudge against him. What they say might be right or wrong, as long as the criticism doesn’t get personal, I am fine with it,” he added.
Ashwin pointed to how personal attacks can ‘shatter’ not just a player but also his family and friends. He also advised the audience to stop watching such videos so as not to promote the already well-selling ‘negativity’.
“Assume Harshit sees the reel in which he is being harshly criticized, and he is about to play a match for India, wouldn’t he be shattered by this? And if his parents and friends see it, what will be their mindset? We can definitely criticize their skill, their style of cricket, and the trade that they are plying. But it shouldn’t get personal. It may be funny once or twice, but it shouldn’t be a running theme. The reason they are doing this is that there is an audience for it. Negativity sells these days. They sell whatever is in demand. We should avoid consuming such content,” he added.
