Sportpersons should be their own spokespersons

Sportpersons should be their own spokespersons. If they want, they can hire some professional to speak on their behalf; but for God's sake don't allow your parents or any of your family member to do so; neither professionally nor out of affection.

When I think of Yuvraj Singh-- more than him; the images of his parents come to my mind. Images like, "Yuvi's mum at an NGO function, requesting media to spare her son" or Yuvi's dad, in some Punjab cricket ground, with young lads carrying on their cricket training in the background, Clarifying, "Both Yuvraj and Dhoni are close to my heart; whosoever becomes the captain is not something I give a thought about". The write-up needs to be to the point so, I better not drag the visualization further; but I underline, there are many such images.

I can't see a single instance when Yuvraj addressed the media the way his parents do. Some rare instances when Yuvi actually tried to take on media; give an impression of more self pity than the conviction of a person so much gifted; with concluding remarks like, "I think I have to act in reality shows soon". [NOTE: Journalists will laugh encouraging at such remarks from legends; as they like Legends fall more than they like them rise; but their laugh should not be misunderstood]

Alright, that may be Yuvi's method of clearing himself of the vicious attacks of ever scrutinizing media; but the method is surely not of someone in control.

Taking the debate further, I think media likes images that people can relate to. If you can recall, at one time, when Sehwag was hitting double and triple centuries against Pakistan; Media was knocking the main gate of Sehwag's Delhi residence many times in a week; asking his mom, "what are you preparing for your lad ?" Kheer ? (porridge made up of milk and rice). Electronic media took the cue from an ad in which Sehwag's mom is shown as a doting mother who prepares his favorite dish daily.

I want to bring the electronic media's obsession with images that too showing "a bonded family" in another legend, the skipper Dhoni. Call it emotions, Dhoni once told to his manager that when he used to be a kid, his mum would give him cooked rice and milk when he would return from his daily practice sessions. The manager, impromptu shared this bite with the world, in some talk show.

To some it'll appear entirely silly but for a long time, succeeding the revelation, Dhoni was asked the same question by all, junior senior, journalist of all types; but in a more maternal affection induced sentence(snow ball effect) "Dhoni tell our readers how your mum used to make you drink two to three litres of milk every day". Luckily, Dhoni was smart to evade the media trap. how? in concluding paragraph.

Yuvraj, though a very gifted and brave young man, has not shown the kind of smartness Dhoni and after a few trappings Sehwag managed to show. Talking of smartness metric in this regards, a famous proverb comes handy, "Some change their routes seeing the light, others do so feeling the heat". Still both managed their professional issues well.

Yuvraj seems unwilling to know; he is still not donning the role of the spokesperson for himself for his good. Dhoni, it appears, always knew, family and profession are two different paths. On the path of one's profession, one has to always travel alone.

To conclude, let I come back to how Dhoni evaded the media's love for images trap. When a senior anchor asked him, "whether he used to have two to three litres of milk daily?" Dhoni replied as a matter of fact, "how can it be that way, after all I come from an ordinary family."