'Gambhir has an insecure mindset' says Paddy Upton in his new book 'The Barefoot Coach'

What's the story?

Former India mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton feels that Gautam Gambhir was very insecure and had a negative mindset, while MS Dhoni has strong control over his emotions.

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In his book ‘The Barefoot Coach’, Upton discussed the topic of mental toughness of elite sportspersons, and how they react to situations. Paddy Upton explained about Gambhir, Dhoni, and Kohli in his book.

The heart of the matter

Explaining about the personality of the former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir, Upton wrote in his book,

"Using popular notion of mental toughness, he was one of the weakest and mentally most insecure’ people I have worked with."

“But at the same time, he was undoubtedly one of the best and most determined and successful Test batsmen in the world. Something he would prove yet again in 2011 World Cup final.”

Paddy Upton says that Gambhir wanted to work on his mistakes even after scoring a century. Upton also told that Gambhir always wanted to achieve more. Giving an example, he said,

“Let’s say his range was 20 to 40 with 30 being normal. When he scored 150, he would be disappointed in not scoring 200.”

Gautam Gambhir when asked about this, told that he isn't hurt. Gambhir said,

“I wanted myself and Indian team to be the best in the world. That’s why I was not satisfied even after scoring 100 as it has been mentioned in Paddy’s book. I see nothing wrong there. As a driven individual, I have tried to raise the bar for myself alone.”

Paddy Upton also discussed the personality of former Indian Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He stated that Dhoni had an "incredible emotional control".

“I would go as far as to say, with greatest respect for MS the man and the cricketer, that it is not emotional control but the lack of access to emotions. MS is not wired as an emotional type. It’s almost as if he doesn’t have them; a performance-enhancing gift from birth.”

What's next?

After taking retirement from cricket, Gambhir has joined politics recently. He is a candidate of the BJP for one seat of New Delhi.