NEW DELHI: Former India opener Aakash Chopra recently hailed Gautam Gambhir’s love and passion for Indian Cricket while admitting that he and the current head coach weren’t friends during their playing days.
Two-time World Cup winner (T20 and ODI) Gambhir has often been misunderstood as a guy with temper and making bold remarks but Chopra felt that Gambhir’s heart is in the right place and his passion for game supersedes everything else.
Gambhir represented India in 58 Tests, 147 ODIs and 37 T20Is and accumulated over 10,000 runs combined.
Chopra, his Delhi and India teammate, mentioned that Gambhir came from an affluent family and still used to spend the entire day on the ground.
“We were competitors because we were fighting for one place. Our team (Delhi) was very good. When we were playing, only one of Kohli and Dhawan got the chance to play. The team was like that. In fact, there was no place for even Viru to open the batting. Viru batted four so that we can accommodate one of Shikhar and Virat at 3,” recalled Chopra in a podcast with Raj Shamani on YouTube.
“We were competitors to begin with. He wasn’t a friend, to be honest. (But he was a) very passionate guy, very hard working, and very serious about his craft. And he scored a lot of runs. But he always wore his heart on the sleeve, was extremely passionate, and could short-fuse very quickly in terms of temperament,” Chopra further revealed.
“He’s a good hearted guy, comes from a very affluent family. For that kid to have that kind of passion… he would be at the ground the whole day. He was born with a golden spoon, not even silver. It’s a different journey, basically like Abhinav Bindra. Gautam has the heart at the right place,” Chopra asserted.
Two-time World Cup winner (T20 and ODI) Gambhir has often been misunderstood as a guy with temper and making bold remarks but Chopra felt that Gambhir’s heart is in the right place and his passion for game supersedes everything else.
Gambhir represented India in 58 Tests, 147 ODIs and 37 T20Is and accumulated over 10,000 runs combined.
Chopra, his Delhi and India teammate, mentioned that Gambhir came from an affluent family and still used to spend the entire day on the ground.
“We were competitors because we were fighting for one place. Our team (Delhi) was very good. When we were playing, only one of Kohli and Dhawan got the chance to play. The team was like that. In fact, there was no place for even Viru to open the batting. Viru batted four so that we can accommodate one of Shikhar and Virat at 3,” recalled Chopra in a podcast with Raj Shamani on YouTube.
“We were competitors to begin with. He wasn’t a friend, to be honest. (But he was a) very passionate guy, very hard working, and very serious about his craft. And he scored a lot of runs. But he always wore his heart on the sleeve, was extremely passionate, and could short-fuse very quickly in terms of temperament,” Chopra further revealed.
“He’s a good hearted guy, comes from a very affluent family. For that kid to have that kind of passion… he would be at the ground the whole day. He was born with a golden spoon, not even silver. It’s a different journey, basically like Abhinav Bindra. Gautam has the heart at the right place,” Chopra asserted.
Team India, Dhoni, Future Cricketers, Income & Cricket Career – @CricketAakash | FO253 Raj Shamani
Gambhir’s first assignment as India head coach was in Sri Lanka where he won the T20I series but lost the ODI leg.
Gambhir’s team is next gearing up for the 2-Test series against Bangladesh which commences from September 19 in Chennai.
