“You’ve had more…”: Gautam Gambhir catches Virat Kohli off-guard, leaves batter tongue-tied with response

Published on Authored by The Free Press Journal

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday, September 18, launched the trailer of a special interview featuring star batter Virat Kohli and head coach Gautam Gambhir ahead of the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh.

Gautam Gambhir (left), Virat Kohli. Photo courtesy: Screengram from x.com/BCCI
Gautam Gambhir (left), Virat Kohli. Photo courtesy: Screengram from x.com/BCCI

Both players have been known for their on-field altercations. However, in the latest video, both of them can be seen poking fun at each other. During the interview, Gambhir left Kohli stumped with his answer on on-field altercation.

Kohli asked Gambhir whether having a chat with opponents ever led him out of his focused zone or provided extra motivation. “When you’re batting and you have a bit of a chat with the opposition, did you ever feel like this might carry on to you going out of the zone and potentially getting out, or did it put you in a more motivated space?”

Gambhir in his response took a lighthearted jibe by stating “You’ve had more altercations than I have. You can answer that question better than I can.” This left Kohli stumped, as he laughed at the response.

The video begins with both Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli looking at a clip from the 2011 ODI World Cup which India won under MS Dhoni’s captaincy. Both Gambhir and Kohli played crucial knocks in the match to tilt the result in India’s favour.

As the trailer progressed, Gambir recalled key moments in Kohli’s career, particularly his stellar batting performance in Australia.

“I remember when you had that bumper series in Australia where you scored heaps and heaps of runs, and that got you in that zone,” Gambhir said, recalling Kohli’s 2014-15 Australia tour, in which the batter scored 692 runs, including four centuries in four Test matches.

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Team India coach then drew parallels with his own experience, and spoke about his remarkable Test innings in Napier. “For me, it was exactly the same when I played in Napier… I have never been in that zone ever in my life after that. So I can imagine how good that feeling is to be in that zone.”

This interview is indeed very special since Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir are two strong personalities who aren’t afraid to share their opinions, both on and off the field.

India gear up for first Test vs Bangladesh

The first Test match against Bangladesh in Chennai will be the first assignment for Gambhir in the longest format of the game after taking over the head coach’s role recently.

India are the overwhelming favourites in their upcoming home Test series against the visitors. The first of the two-match Test series begins on Thursday, September 19, at the iconic MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. This will be the third Test series between the two nations on Indian soil and the ninth overall.

(The article is published under a mutual content partnership arrangement between The Free Press Journal and Connected to India)