Rahul Dravid, a former Indian cricketer and the current head coach of Team India, once remarked that Indian cricket fans have relatively short attention spans. The recent events involving Shikhar Dhawan's fame and public image serve as evidence of how accurate Dravid was.
Dhawan, the Indian cricket team's opening batsman, faced harsh criticism on Twitter for discussing the Lumpy Skin Disease that has affected cows in 15 states throughout India. The cricketer recently used the microblogging platform to call on the authorities to improve their efforts to stop the spread of this infection among our cattle, “Large number of cattle are affected and several have succumbed to it.”
Urging more authorities to fight this battle against #LumpySkinDisease and #SaveCows. Large number of cattle are affected and several have succumbed to it. pic.twitter.com/GSj8U9vIUX
Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) September 23, 2022
Even though Dhawan actively participated in bringing attention to these concerns, it was astonishing to observe how many individuals were offended by the athlete's desire to do good.
They discovered certain issues with Dhawan and exploited them against him on social media, however, they were able to do it. People questioned his "sudden" animal activism, why he did not identify the states where the viral spread occurred, and even told him to stop talking and concentrate on his cricket game.
This is very disheartening to see Kabaddi players at State level tournament having food in toilet. Would request @myogiadityanath & @UPGovtSports to look into the same and take necessary action. pic.twitter.com/2pekZW8Icx
Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) September 21, 2022
How rapidly Dhawan's reputation changed from being a national hero to a villain with a different purpose in mind is almost unbelievable to behold. Just yesterday, the entire nation praised the southpaw for his valour in defying the Uttar Pradesh government. Dhawan had formally requested that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath take legal action against those in charge of forcing state-level kabaddi players to have their meals in a restroom.
A few days prior to being hailed as the "voice of the voiceless," Dhawan came under fire from the general public when he urged Keralans to cease killing stray dogs in the wake of numerous deaths from dog bites that had been reported in the state. That is how quickly a person's reputation can shift these days. Regardless of how much good you accomplish, even the simplest actions can have a significant impact on how the public perceives you.
This is so horrifying that mass killing of dogs in #kerala is taking place. I would request to reconsider such moves and put an end to these brutal killings.
Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) September 16, 2022
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