For a change, Gautam was not so Gambhir in this exclusive photo shoot for HT Brunch
For a change, Gautam was not so Gambhir in this exclusive photo shoot for HT Brunch (HT Photo: Ajay Aggarwal) more photos »
At the same time that Shah Rukh Khan went cartwheeling at Chepauk and Sunil Gavaskar began praising the combative qualities of the Kolkata Knight Riders, a senior teacher at Delhi’s Modern School broke into a silent jig around his TV screen. A glow spreads across Firoz Bakht Ahmed’s face as he reflects on his illustrious student and rewinds the clock to 1995 when he taught Gautam Gambhir. “In class 8, Gambhir was lagging behind in English assignments and I called his dad to complain. His dad said his attendance was erratic because he was representing Delhi in cricket tournaments. It was then that I told him: ‘All this won’t matter if your son becomes the next Sunil Gavaskar.’”
Even as pundits contemplate the dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of the Knight Riders and an opportunistic chief minister tangos with a superstar at Eden and calls it paribortan, Gambhir, 30, the resolute Delhi boy-turned-Kolkatar chele, exudes a Buddha-like serenity that has been part of his demeanour since he first began demolishing bowlers.
The T20 World Cup title? The World Cup crown? Or IPL 2012? Which one of the three wins gave him the most satisfaction? “It is unfair to compare,” says Gambhir. “Still, for the manner in which we lived up to fans’ expectations and came back after being out four years in the cold, this IPL victory is special.”
Now that even the media is anointing him as the next skipper, how does he look back on his captaincy? “Kolkata Knight Riders is not about me. It is about the team. A captain is as good as the 11 who are out in the park.” Really? Even after scoring 590 runs in 17 innings with a strike rate of 143? “Yes, in our country we have a culture of putting the spotlight on the individual and I resent it. Cricket is a team game. If you want fame for yourself, go play an individual game.”
Recognising every small contribution has
At the same time that Shah Rukh Khan went cartwheeling at Chepauk and Sunil Gavaskar began praising the combative qualities of the Kolkata Knight Riders, a senior teacher at Delhi’s Modern School broke into a silent jig around his TV screen. A glow spreads across Firoz Bakht Ahmed’s face as he reflects on his illustrious student and rewinds the clock to 1995 when he taught Gautam Gambhir. “In class 8, Gambhir was lagging behind in English assignments and I called his dad to complain. His dad said his attendance was erratic because he was representing Delhi in cricket tournaments. It was then that I told him: ‘All this won’t matter if your son becomes the next Sunil Gavaskar.’”
Even as pundits contemplate the dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of the Knight Riders and an opportunistic chief minister tangos with a superstar at Eden and calls it paribortan, Gambhir, 30, the resolute Delhi boy-turned-Kolkatar chele, exudes a Buddha-like serenity that has been part of his demeanour since he first began demolishing bowlers.
The T20 World Cup title? The World Cup crown? Or IPL 2012? Which one of the three wins gave him the most satisfaction? “It is unfair to compare,” says Gambhir. “Still, for the manner in which we lived up to fans’ expectations and came back after being out four years in the cold, this IPL victory is special.”
Now that even the media is anointing him as the next skipper, how does he look back on his captaincy? “Kolkata Knight Riders is not about me. It is about the team. A captain is as good as the 11 who are out in the park.” Really? Even after scoring 590 runs in 17 innings with a strike rate of 143? “Yes, in our country we have a culture of putting the spotlight on the individual and I resent it. Cricket is a team game. If you want fame for yourself, go play an individual game.”
Recognising every small contribution has