Indian men’s cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir has often been described as a misunderstood character. Often during his playing days, Gambhir walked on the pitch wearing his heart on the sleeve. Displaying incredible passion, Gambhir was at the center of some of India’s famous wins, especially in ICC events. He was central to Team India’s success in the ICC World T20 in 2007 and the 2011 ODI World Cup. Gambhir emerged as one of India’s finest match-winners but there were times when he had to compete with some top players for his spot in the team.

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra, also an opening batter during his playing days, revealed how drastic changes were made in the Indian team to accommodate batters, prompting even Virender Sehwag to be demoted to the No. 4 spot.

“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,” recalled Chopra in a podcast with Raj Shamani on YouTube.

Chopra had no qualms in admitting that he wasn’t friends with Gambhir as there was extreme competition in the team at the start for the opening spots. But, Gambhir’s passion was visible to all, including Chopra. 

“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,” Chopra further revealed.

“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,” Chopra asserted.