Out of favor Indian opener Gautam Gambhir turned 36 yesterday. He was involved in India’s several famous victories from inaugural T20 WC to world triumph in 2011; Gauti was there in the middle with Indian team.
Recently, Gambhir appeared in Gaurav Kapoor’s famous talk show ‘Breakfast with Champions’. Where he revealed that player from Delhi abuse so much and gave the example of Virat Kohli. “It just comes naturally and I think that being from Delhi means being competitive and that is how the culture is. Looking someone like and looking someone like Virat, obviously, you can say that (that players from Delhi abuse a lot). But there is nothing wrong in that unless you don’t take it personally,” he said.
He further added “I have said a lot of times that till the time you leave all these things on the cricket pitch, then it is absolutely fine because you always want to go out there to win. But somewhere down the line, you cannot cross the line as well. When you are sitting with your family and watching the replays and you know that you have abused on certain occasions, it is very embarrassing. But as I said, you have to control your emotions. You could be the role model for so many people and you don’t want them to follow in these footsteps.”
Gambhir, too, born and brought up in Delhi, which makes him so aggressive and competitive in the field. “I think I have got my own game face, which people normally see on the cricket ground. Especially when I am captaining a side, I have to be far more intense compared to other people because that is the responsibility that has been given to me,” the southpaw said.
“I think that I learned very early in my life to be competitive. When I started playing in the under-14s, it was all about performed or perish and that is what made me competitive and it has stayed with me till now,” he added. “And I hope that it stays with me till I keep playing cricket. One thing that Delhi taught me is to be really aggressive and competitive, whenever I go on to the pitch.”
Meanwhile, he recalled a memory from his school days, when he got punished following his uncontrolled anger during a cricket tournament. However, he doesn’t have any regret about it. Gambhir stated “I have had many fights in school as I was very naughty. I got suspended as well in 12th for one and half months. We went to play a tournament in one of the Delhi schools and after winning the cup, we got involved in a huge fight. Maybe because I was the captain so I was given the harsh punishment, but as I said, I have no regrets.”
During the interview, he also named his friends in the dressing room. Virender Sehwag is among the top names in this list along with Yuvraj Singh.
“I spent a lot of time with Viru (Virender Sehwag). Obviously, Ishant (Sharma) is a very good friend. Munaf (Patel) is a good friend. I grew up with Amit Mishra and we practiced a lot. I also spent a lot of time with Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) when we played together. I share a great relationship with all these guys and we have seen highs and lows together,” he concluded.
“I think some of our great cricketing moments have been together, especially winning the 2007 WT20 and 2011 World Cup. And also some of the lowest moments like getting whitewashed in England. It has always been great fun because I am sure once all us retire, these memories will stay with us for the rest of our lives.”
Currently, Gambhir is playing Ranji Trophy for his domestic side Delhi, where he is playing under Ishant Sharma’s captaincy.
