Gautam Gambhir‘s childhood coach Sanjay Bharadwaj has said that people often confuse Gambhir’s strive to win and achieve success with arrogance. Calling him a ‘kid’, Bharadwaj – who has shared a three-decade long association with Gambhir – came to the defence of his most famous disciple. Gambhir was recently appointed the head coach of Team India, after a title-winning IPL 2024 as mentor of the Kolkata Knight Riders. Whilst Gambhir’s clash of personalities with figures like MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli have been popularly portrayed, his coach believes he is misunderstood.

Speaking to former U19 World Cup-winner Manjot Kalra on the latter’s YouTube channel, Bharadwaj said, “Gautam Gambhir is a kid. Even today he is like an innocent kid. He has no malice. He is like a 12-year-old kid.”

“People think he is arrogant, but that is his attitude towards winning,” said Bharadwaj. “I used to make him play matches after nets and he would cry after losing matches. He did not like losing even back then,” Bharadwaj added.

Bharadwaj credited Gambhir for being a man who has shaped the careers of many young players, in a defence of his attitude.

“People think he has attitude, this and that. No, Gambhir is pure at heart. He is polite; has made the careers of so many youngsters,” said Bharadwaj. He provided the example of pacer Navdeep Saini, who had been given a shot due to Gambhir’s insistence.

“If you get in your comfort zone, if you’re smiling all the time, will you win? A person who understands how to win should know how to avoid defeat,” said Bharadwaj.

Gambhir began his stint as Team India head coach on a positive note, as India whitewashed Sri Lanka 3-0 in the T20I series. Gambhir received praise for developing India’s tactical approach, as Rinku Singh and Suryakumar Yadav were handed the ball.

“Gautam Gambhir will not go after the technical aspects,” said Bharadwaj. “What Gambhir will work on is the tactical aspects. Gambhir’s job will be to boost morale and inject confidence into a player who may not to too sure about himself,” he added.