Veteran Team India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recently opened up about how he is a fan of former opening batter Gautam Gambhir’s competitive nature. Ashwin said that fans of some Indian Premier League (IPL) teams might dislike Gambhir for this, but he loves his fierce energy as well.

Speaking in his latest YouTube video, Ashwin said: “He (Gambhir) is one person who has ‘bring it on’ energy and doesn’t hold back. I like that attitude in him. If you are a fan of a particular team, you might get offended by it. But to look at it from the outside, the no-chill attitude is something I love.”

However, Gambhir has rejoined KKR ahead of the upcoming IPL 2024 as a mentor after serving in the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for two years as well. And, Ravichandran Ashwin suggested that Gambhir’s return to Kolkata may help the team, saying how he led them to two IPL titles as the skipper in 2012 and 2014.

“Gautam Gambhir has left LSG and joined KKR. He has been an integral part of the leadership. He was the first to change the fortunes of the franchise and won two titles as the captain. They are searching for their third title, and this seems like the perfect timing. They’ve brought him from LSG because they seem to have a great connection with him. In fact, Gautam also seems to be a happy place to be in KKR,” he further added.

“For CSK, Mumbai Indians have been a nemesis over the years. They’ve had 5-5 equal titles. The Mumbai Indians actually won their first title only in 2013. In the last 10 years, they have won five titles, one every alternate year. Another thorn in the flesh for CSK was Gautam Gambhir’s KKR. He has posted a good threat to them, especially in 2012, when Chennai was going to hit a hat trick. I was playing them for CSK; they had us at the finals in Chennai. Since then, Gautam Gambhir has also been quite the nemesis for CSK,” R Ashwin concluded.