Gautam Gambhir prefers watching hockey on the television over football and cricket

Gautam Gambhir is a happy man at present. The left-hander, who celebrates his 35^th birthday today, made a comeback to the Indian team during the Indore Test against New Zealand last week, where he made a gritty half-century in the second innings, after going off the field at the start following the aggravation of the injury he sustained on his left shoulder while fielding.

The return to the national setup was a just reward for some good performances in domestic cricket, in particular, the Duleep Trophy, where he made four half-centuries and led his side to the title at Greater Noida.

However, cricket is not just the only passion that runs strongly in Gambhir's blood. The Delhi batsman is also a very keen follower of hockey and admitted that he preferred to watch it even over football.

“I am very passionate about Indian hockey. Obviously, I watched all their games at the Olympics. They played reasonably well and though they didn’t win a medal, the graph is going upwards. Where hockey was in 1980’s, I hope India can go to the same level even now. If there is hockey or football and cricket on my television, I prefer to watch hockey,” he told the Hindustan Times.

A lot of Indian players are constantly on social media, wishing their counterparts in other sports the best prior to a major event. During the Rio Olympics, one saw the likes of Virat Kohli, R Ashwin come out in support of PV Sindhu, prior to her final against Carolina Marin.

Kohli, in fact, has in the past wished the Indian hockey team on several occasions prior to a key game.

Gambhir further revealed that he liked to spend time with his daughter and added that he was a big movie buff.

“I love watching movies. I am a big movie buff. It’s been a while since I saw any movie because I was busy with Duleep Trophy but the last one I saw was Sultan. I have a young two year-old daughter as well and I spend a lot of time with her when I am at home . She is growing up quickly and is constantly doing new stuff so it is great to unwind with her. I spend time with my friends and we go out for dinners,” he said.

Gambhir has not been picked for the first three matches of the ODI series against New Zealand and there is still no clarity over whether he will play in the remaining two ODIs.Maybe he can use this time off to watch the biopic of MS Dhoni, that has created such a big impression among the supporters.