Former Indian opener turned commentator Aakash Chopra said that he and current Team India coach Gautam Gambhir were competitors during their playing careers as well. Playing for a strong Delhi side, the duo often battled for the top-of-the-order spot in the national team. However, Chopra also opened the batting in Tests with Virender Sehwag from 2003 to 2004 before Gambhir replaced him as well.

Speaking on a YouTube podcast with Raj Shamani, Chopra said about Gambhir as quoted by Hindustan Times: “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.”

ALSO READ: Hardik Pandya shares happiness after winning back the love of fans

“We are competitors because we were fighting for one place. Our team 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,” he again stated.

While Chopra played only 10 Tests for India, Gambhir had a more decorated international career as well. He scored over 10,000 runs across formats and was an integral part of the Indian 2007 T20 and 2011 ODI World Cup-winning sides as well. And, Aakash Chopra hailed Gautam Gambhir for his passion towards the game despite coming from an affluent family as well.

“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,” concluded Aakash Chopra.