People judging our playing eleven in social media and giving verdicts is ridiculous, feels Gautam Gambhir.

Despite having yet another star-studded squad at their disposal, which include the likes of Colin Munro, Glenn Maxwell and more, Delhi Daredevils have again failed to live up to the expectations winning just once in their opening four games. Even bringing in a proven IPL captain at the helm, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to two titles in seven years, has shown no signs of improvement. 

The DD fans have quite understandably not wasted any time in criticizing the side on social media platforms like Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter, which hasn’t gone down well with the captain. And he, in turn, decided to express his concern through his TOI column. 

 “To my mind we now have a new body part – a smartphone. You just need to glance around and you will know what I mean. Currently. India has 490 million smartphone users. Or, for those like me who are more comfortable with crore, 490 million equals to 49 crores. A healthy chunk of this number is on social media/Whatsapp and the other blah …blah… Many of these are sitting with their judgment glasses on, eager to hurl verdicts. 

“As I was writing the column I got this one on my new team: Drop Mohammad Shami and play Avesh Khan. Drop Vijay Shankar and play Prithvi Shaw. Besides there are too many Ds in the name Delhi Daredevils which is not a good sign as D stands for defeat,” wrote Gambhir. 

Gambhir strongly condemned those kinds of behavior of people, stating that the players are equally upset with the dwindling results and are trying to improve that every game. 

“With one win in four games, social media trial has begun for Delhi Daredevils. In the times when everything is judged on “trolls”, “hits”, “followers” or “likes”, it seems my team has committed some sort of crime. If we don’t react in a certain way it doesn’t mean we aren’t hurt,” said Gambhir.

“We are all concerned that we conceded almost 200 runs in two consecutive games. We won against Mumbai Indians but even that night I went to bed worried. Yes, we should have been more competitive against Kolkata Knight Riders. But if you read what your smartphone has to say it would seem that we have given them a walkover!” the 36-year-old wrote.

Despite the profound outrage, Gambhir has decided to look at the positives, opining that the good form has been just one win away, and has requested the supporters not to create a negative vibe about the team in social media. 

“Like for a batsman form is one stroke away, in a team game winning combination is one win away. Just keep the faith or in social media glossary: just keep the “likes” coming,” wrote Gambhir, who is the IPL’s fourth-highest run-getter with 4210 from 150 innings.

Social media opinions affecting players hasn’t been something new. Just before the IPL had started, Virat Kohli had expressed his concern in an interview by India Today, pointing out so many people's verdict on social media over someone’s personal matter or when a team is morally down; hasn’t been a good sign. More than anything, it has put extra pressure on an individual where he is being judged by the world openly.