Former Delhi batters Aakash Chopra and Gautam Gambhir stand out very clearly from the rest of the world’s athletes, who are mostly aggressive in their youth but tone it down after retirement to become pundits with a filtered approach to expressing their thoughts. There was a moment when the two were teammates, leading off the bat for their state squad.
During a recent conversation, the former cricket player who is now a commentator offered an intriguing narrative about the intense rivalry that forced the Delhi team to manage its great players back in the day. Chopra also discussed the positive qualities of the Indian team’s current head coach as well as those areas where he fell short in his personal development.
“Gambhir and I are rivals as we were vying for the same spot. We had a fantastic team. Of the two, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli, only one was able to participate throughout our game. That’s how the squad operated. In actuality, not even Viru (Virender Sehwag) could begin the batting. On the Raj Shamani podcast Figuring Out, Chopra reminisced, “Viru batted at four so that we can accommodate one of Shikhar and Virat at three.”
“In the beginning, we were rivals. To be honest, he was not a friend. However, he was a really driven individual who took his art extremely seriously and with much enthusiasm. He amassed a large run total. Chopra remarked, “He was very passionate, could short fuse easily, and always wore his heart on his sleeve.”
Not even silver, but a golden spoon at birth: Aakash Chopra
Talking more on the same subject, Chopra said that Gambhir’s wealthy upbringing had no bearing whatsoever on his desire to give it his all in training—a quality that the former really respected.
He hails from a highly wealthy family and is a good-hearted man. That kind of child would be on the ground all day if he had that kind of passion. Not even silver, but a golden spoon from birth. It’s a distinct adventure, akin to Abhinav Bindra’s. Gautam is doing the right thing with his heart,” Chopra continued.
The World Cup winner Gautam Gambhir was born into a family that already operated a textile company, so it would have been easy for Gambhir to instill a lack of interest in life throughout his early years. Still, he didn’t, and his record with the Indian squad is unquestionable. Even during his coaching and mentoring roles with the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Lucknow Super Giants, respectively, his unwavering thirst for victory was evident.
Also Read: ‘I was like, ‘Who is this guy?” – Aakash Chopra remembers how MS Dhoni’s incredible shot stunned him
Even though his time as the Indian team’s coach hasn’t gone well at first, it’s obvious that the outcomes haven’t stopped Gambhir from believing in himself. As the team’s head coach, he would be more than happy to create many priceless moments of victory, beginning with the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh.
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