Gautam Gambhir has always been a non-conformist but he has had no regrets even if it meant an “unfulfilled career”, “lot of enemies” because he could “sleep peacefully at night.”
One of the most gutsy cricketers that the country has ever produced, Gambhir feels that the Indian society in general does not warm up to people who are forthright in their views.
“It’s not only about cricketing system, in general our society doesn’t like to be shown the mirror. We like to maintain the status quo and not look at the reality. I get suffocated by all this,” Gambhir told PTI in an exclusive interview.
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Whether it’s selectors or DDCA administration, Gambhir stood for whatever he felt right especially if those were cricketing issues. “I can’t tolerate wrong things and artificiality.
“A lot of people around me say that I could have been diplomatic but that is simply not me. Yes, I made many enemies but I slept in peace,” said Gambhir on the penultimate day of his competitive career.
Did he never get scared that taking on establishment at every step could have affected his career?
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For someone, who has always been high on emotional quotient, Gambhir did let his guard down for once.
“It did affect me. I am human after all but then like I said, I could not have let the unfair (practices) prevail.
“Look, I am not being holier than thou but some of the things that go on in our system are absolutely ridiculous.
“I was vocal about them and I paid the price by having an unfulfilled career,” Gambhir said with a tinge of emotion in his voice.
So is Gautam Gambhir a misunderstood man? He replied: “Misunderstood a lot of times. For example, if I said, a captain is as good as his team, media and critics thought I was taking a dig at M.S. Dhoni.
“These critics would conveniently ignore when I repeated the statement when I was leading KKR or Delhi Ranji team. All these misunderstandings played a negative part in my career,” he admitted.
Own identity
Son of a wealthy businessman, Gambhir said that the hunger to carve his own identity always urged him to push the limits.
“A lot of people would say that I didn’t need to play the game as I came from an affluent background. But I wanted to have an identity of my own, I wanted my dad should be known through me rather than the other way round.
“Besides, I didn’t get anything on a platter, as I had to fight at each and every step.
“Therefore I am up for a scrap each time someone throws a challenge at me,” the fighter in him comes out.
By his own admission he could have played lot more (for India).
“Well, destiny has been mixed to me. I think I was good enough to play a lot more but variables were not in favour.
“But then I also had the honour of winning not one but two World Cup titles.
“So, the hundred in my last game is one more day when destiny has been kind to me.”