Gambhir not hurt by Upton’s take on mental health

New Delhi

In his new book ‘The Barefoot Coach’, India’s former mental conditioning coach Upton has written about notions of mental toughness and how Gambhir, despite being one of the finest Indian batsmen of his time, was perhaps also ‘one of the weakest and mentally most insecured’.

The cricketer-turned-politician doesn’t find anything wrong with Upton’s assessment. “Well, he is a genuinely nice man and he wouldn’t have done anything with any sinful intentions. I have full faith in him,” said Gambhir.

“In any case, my insecurities as a cricketer are well-documented. It is not as if Paddy has spoken about something that was not there in public domain,” said Gambhir, the hero of India’s 2007 World T20 and 2011 WC victories. For him, the insecurity stemmed from his burning desire to attain perfection and he is not ‘hurt’ that Upton has termed him ‘negative and pessimistic’.

“It doesn’t hurt me but I would like to put things in perspective. What Paddy couldn’t say – maybe he didn’t know or the publisher of the book chose to edit it – is that I wanted the Indian team and myself to be the best in the world. That is why I was not satisfied even after scoring a 100 and wanted to score 200, as has been mentioned in his book. I see nothing wrong there. As a driven individual, I have always strived to be the best and raised the bar for myself alone,” said the 37-year-old.

Gambhir isn’t hurt by the public disclosure of what were supposed to be personal sessions with the South African for commercial purpose. “No, no I am not hurt at all, like I said Paddy is a top man. But I’d like to set the record straight that a vulnerable person can’t score in pressure situations, like a WC final,” said Gambhir.

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