By Karan Agrawal 
India as a country is known for worshipping cricketers and actors. There have been many instances where fans have crossed the line to meet their favorite player which has led to chaos with the recent example being that of Virat Kohli when the former Indian captain Virat Kohli featured in his first Ranji Trophy match for Delhi in 12 years which attracted a huge crowd. The authorities seemed helpless with the unexpected turnout of people as a result a stampede-like situation occurred outside the stadium which left many people injured.
The Culture
Not only fans but the broadcasters have also contributed to taking the superstar culture which has been embedded into Indian cricket for decades to another level where they are seen focusing on a particular player for a major part of the match. Talking about the superstar culture former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said that there is a need to normalise things in Indian cricket. “It is important to normalise things in Indian cricket. We must not encourage this superstardom and super celebrities within the Indian cricket team,” Ashwin stated.”We must normalise all these things going forward. We are cricketers. We are not actors or superstars.” “We are sportspersons, and we must be someone that the common people should resonate with, and can compare themselves with.”
The Job
Ashwin gave the example of senior players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma who are known for their run-scoring abilities with the duo slamming centuries at a good pace, especially in ODI cricket which according to Ashwin is their job. In the words of Ashwin “For example, if you are a Rohit Sharma or a Virat Kohli, who have achieved so much. When you hit one more century, it is not just about your achievement anymore. It should be business as usual, and our goals should be bigger than these achievements.”
Expert’s Corner
The former off-spinner also believed that including five spinners in the Champions Trophy squad is one too many. “Five spinners in Dubai? I don’t know. I think we are one spinner too many if not two,” he remarked as it was one of the calls that caught everyone’s attention. Although there were high chances of Varun Chakarvarthy getting a place in the squad, which he did, experts thought that he would replace one of the spinners as India had already picked four spinners in the squad, and his inclusion takes the telly to five at the expense of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.