I am a born fighter, says Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir

KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir is certainly a very happy man. He is thrilled after the arrival of his little baby girl, which was followed by a commendable performence by his team in the IPL.

Talking to Deccan Herald, he said, “Look, I come from a family that migrated from the Pakistan side of undivided India. My grandfather and his brothers had seen some tough times during Partition. I am told that my grandfather fought 12-14 miscreants alone at the time. I have heard similar stories from both sides of my family. After the families moved to a divided India, they had to start from scratch. My father is a self-made man, so is my maternal grandfather and my maternal uncle. Having grown up in this environment, I have developed as a fighter in whatever I do. The values that I inherited from my family made me a go-getter. You can say I am survivor.”

About being in and out of the Indian team, he added, “I think with age and experience, you handle stress and failure better and that is what happened to me. In 2007, the setback was immense. But being young, I failed to look at the bigger picture which was that I was still playing this sport, albeit not at the international level. This time when I was dropped, I told myself that it is not at the level that one plays, what is important is that one is still playing. It may seem pompous and untrue, but I really don’t play for comebacks.”

Gambhir also likes to spend time at home. He explained, “Away from the field I am a normal, steady guy. I like going for a movie, having a South Indian meal at Sagar Ratna at the Ashoka Hotel, or hot chocolate fudge from Baskin Robbins. Some days, I want to be really lazy and sleep between meals. I have my mood swings, but these are all when I’m in my inner circle of family and friends. Otherwise, I am quite a reserved guy.”

Giving credit to his maternal grandmother and mother, he added, “They are the two treasures of my life, although grandmom passed away last year. It was the worst day of my life. I am living on her blessings.”