Body shaming and the outside noise Indian cricketers rightly shut
Fans always wonder why Indian cricketers aren't as open with them as foreign cricketers in their respective countries. There's always a feeling that cricketers should be more empathetic towards fans who dedicate their entire lives idolizing them and follow their careers keenly.
While cricket is a religion in India and cricketers are almost treated as gods, the abuse these players face when they fail justifies the distance they maintain from fans on social media.
Take Prithvi Shaw for example. The Indian opener recently smashed a double hundred for Northamptonshire against Somerset in a one-day encounter, earning his moment after what has been a tough time for him.
Yet, instead of applauding the knock, multiple posts shamelessly ridiculed the way Shaw looked when he celebrated his landmark. Is it then wrong for him to feel like he will be judged on every little thing?
"People say a lot of things about me. You can't share your thoughts with anyone else. If you ask me personally, it's very scary. Darr lagta hai aajkal to share my thoughts. Agle din social media mein aa jaata hai (I'm scared to share my thoughts. Somehow all of it comes up on social media)," Shaw recently told Cricbuzz and Wisden.
Sometimes fans pass a comment for engagement and likes, without even thinking how the cricketer would feel after reading it.
It's not just Prithvi Shaw who has faced social media's wrath
Pacer Tushar Deshpande was a standout player for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2023 season. He picked up 21 wickets in 16 games to help them win a record-equalling fifth IPL title. However, he was trolled for his economy rate of 9.92 despite his wickets being crucial to CSK's success.
While the uncapped Indian speedster was highly effective for the Men in Yellow, he was a bit expensive in some games. Yet, without understanding the dynamics of the T20 game, fans mercilessly trolled Deshpande for leaking runs.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, Tushar Deshpande opened up on the social media trolling, saying:
"We are humans, we aren't machines. So mistakes happen and in IPL, fans want their team to win and we also love the support of the fans. But they need to understand that sometimes we will win and sometimes we will lose. We always give our best. If you do 99 good things and 1 bad thing, people will remember only that 1 bad thing. Next season if I have an economy rate of 6, they will ask 'Where are the wickets?'. So I don't really think a lot about what people say because they don't know how hard I have worked to reach where I have."
It leaves a sour taste when the highest wicket-taker for CSK in their campaign didn't get the respect that he deserved, especially with the crucial wickets that he delivered all season. So he won't be wrong to wonder what more do the fans want.
Unfortunately, it is creeping into the system as well
While it looked like body shaming and criticism of a player's weight was limited to social media, it seems to have slowly gotten into the system as well.
Sarfaraz Khan has been scoring runs for fun in Ranji Trophy over the last two-three seasons with Bradman-esque numbers. Yet he hasn't made it to the Indian Test squad, let alone getting a debut. While it made sense to not go with inexperience in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy or the World Test Championship, it seemed almost inexplicable that Sarfaraz didn't get a chance on the West Indies tour.
With transition seeming to be a necessity and injuries to Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, the selectors decided to hand India's Test vice-captaincy to Ajinkya Rahane, making him a sure-shot No. 5, a position where Sarfaraz has dominated in red-ball cricket.
A senior BCCI official told PTI about Sarfaraz's fitness being one of the main reasons for his non-selection to the Indian squad, claiming it "isn't exactly of international standard". The uncapped Indian batter's aggressive celebration after one of his hundreds in domestic cricket reportedly didn't go down well too.
This once again begs the question. Has physique just been used an as excuse for not picking an uncapped Indian who has been ridiculously consistent in red-ball cricket? This grey area is disheartening for cricketers who put up the numbers and performances.
Former South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk faced similar problems on her potential comeback which was denied by the board when she was deemed unfit to play in the Women's T20 World Cup. She was clear about how she felt after her efforts to shed weight went in vain.
The all-rounder eventually retired from international cricket, which spoke volumes about how the system has started to just type-cast someone as 'overweight', overlooking their form and achievements, and that it's not just limited to India.
Often people tend to cross lines while criticizing players who have brought laurels to the country. Their performances are kept on the backseat with the main argument being around their fitness. While a certain standard of fitness is a must, how does physique matter as long as they are delivering for the country?
This negativity seems to have started affecting the way players portray themselves on social media as well. While they would claim that outside noise doesn't matter, they do seem a bit anxious about others' opinions. But that shouldn't be the case.
How does it matter that Shaw, Rohit Sharma or Rishabh Pant do not have six-pack abs? How does it matter what Hardik Pandya's fashion sense is? How does it matter what Virat Kohli has posted on social media? How does it matter how Riyan Parag celebrates a wicket?
The real loss is for the fans who get generalized with the negativity on social media, but truly adore their idols. Their encouraging comments are often lost in a sea of negativity.
Mental health and peace are important for a sportsperson, especially in the high-pressure environment that they live in. Yet the unrealistic expectation that the social-media world harbors is that cricketers are answerable to them about everything they do.
It's sad that Indian cricketers can't openly embrace and interact with their genuine fans as they are just a small part of a largely negative outside noise that the cricketers shut for solace.
In an ideal world, it would be great if fans would be able to interact with Indian cricketers more often. But unfortunately, personal slander has created a gap wide enough that will take years to bridge.
It’s never a bad time to reflect and reiterate that a cricketer, or any other sportsperson, ought to be treated as a human being above all.