File photo of Gautam Gambhir.© AFP
Former cricketer Aakash Chopra has recalled an incident when Gautam Gambhir, head of the Indian team, fought with a truck driver. Chopra said that Gambhir's passion was visible even when he was playing for the Delhi state team. During a recent interaction, Chopra opened up on his bond with Gambhir and recalled some of the incidents from the dressing room in Delhi. While suggesting that Gambhir's aggression is what makes him different from other cricketers, Chopra also recalled an incident when the current team India head coach fought with a truck driver and grabbed his collar.
"Passionate guy. Very hardworking when it comes to his craft. A bit serious but scored a lot of runs. He always wore his heart on the sleeve. Temperament wise he can be very short-fused. But everyone has a different character. Gautam is someone who once fought with a truck driver in Delhi. He got out of his car and climb the truck to grab the collar of the driver because he made a wrong turn and was abusing. So that's made him Gautam," Chopra said on Raj Shamani's podcast.
Chopra, however, didn't shy away from admitting that he wasn't friends with Gambhir as there was extreme competition in the team at the start for the opening spots.
"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.
"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.
Gambhir is set to take charge of his first Test game as head coach of the Indian team in the upcoming first Test against Bangladesh, starting September 19.