‘He’s a kid’ – Childhood coach on Gautam Gambhir’s personality

Team India’s head coach, Gautam Gambhir, has been well known for being a serious player every time and not laughing at all until his recent meet-up with Virat Kohli, but his true personality, as described by his childhood coach, seems something else this time. The former India opener is one of the very few cricketers to have won both the ODI and T20 World Cups, and while he was a regular in India’s playing XI, he has witnessed more highs and few lows in his cricketing career. It shows Gambhir’s relentless stride towards being the best and having a winning mentality that people think of his winning attitude as arrogance, as said by his childhood coach, Sanjay Bharadwaj.

Notably, Bharadwaj, who has been known as a renowned coach in the Delhi cricket circuit, has overseen and helped shape the future of several cricketers, including the likes of Amit Mishra and Joginder Sharma. However, his stint with India’s head coach, Gautam Gambhir, seems to be the only one that lasted for around three decades. A recipient of the Guru Dronacharya Award back in 2019, a sports coaching honour in India, Bhardwaj has recalled how emotional and sensitive the Gambhir was.

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I used to make him play matches after nets and he would cry after losing matches: Sanjay Bharadwaj

Gautam Gambhir’s coach revealed that his student is still a 12-year-old kid in modern-day cricket. His coach revealed that people misunderstand his winning desire as arrogance, but this has never been the case. Bharadwaj revealed that the 2-times ICC World Cup winner still used to cry after losing the match, and he has had the same quality since his childhood days.

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“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. 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 told former India Under-19 World Cup winner Manjot Kalra on his YouTube show.

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