File photo of Gautam Gambhir at the Noida office of The Indian Express during an Idea Exchange in September 15, 2022. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)
Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir has taken a dig at cricketing superstars who endorse pan masala products via surrogate products in advertisements.
During the recently-concluded edition of the Indian Premier League, legendary former cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Virender Sehwag and Chris Gayle were seen promoting “silver-coated elaichi” — a mouth-freshener made by a famous pan-masala company.
“I never thought in my life a cricketer would do a pan masala ad. It’s disgusting and disappointing. That is why I say, choose your role models carefully. What example are they setting?” World Cup winner Gambhir said in an interview with News18.
It must be noted that in the question asked to Gambhir or in his response, no cricketer was named.
“One gets recognised not by their name, but by the work they do. Crores of kids are watching you. Money is not that important that you will end of doing a pan masala ad. There are so many other ways to make money.
“You should have the courage to let go of a big pay cheque rather than do such things,” he added.
The left-handed batter added that in 2018, when he had stepped down from Delhi Capitals captaincy, he was offered Rs 3 crore to star in a pan masala ad. But he had chosen to excuse himself on principle.
“I could have taken the money, but I left it because I always believe that I should get what I deserve. Sachin Tendulkar was offered Rs 20-30 crores to act in pan masala ads as well. But he said no to these pan masala ads. He had promised his father that he would never engage in such stuff, which is why he is a role model,” said Gambhir.
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