Gautam Gambhir Was "Insecure, Negative And Pessimistic", Says Paddy Upton
Team India’s ex-mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton has made some sensational claims about Gautam Gambhir in his newly-released book. Gambhir is one of the most decorated opening batsmen in the history of Indian cricket. Gambhir was one of the most sought after players in the world in the second half of the last decade when India was a dominant force across formats. He was an integral part of the team across all the three formats and was also one of the batting mainstays.
Gambhir was the top-scorer when India beat Pakistan in the final of the inaugural World T20. The southpaw was looking destined to create his own legacy in the game. His reputation was further enhanced after his starring performance in the 2011 World Cup. Gambhir had top-scored with 97 to help India beat Sri Lanka and win the World Cup after 28 years. Overall, Gambhir made 58 Test appearances for India, accumulating 4154 runs at an average of 41.95.
His 147 ODI games fetched 5238 runs, while in 37 T20 Internationals, he scored 932 runs. In 2009, he had bagged the ICC Player of the Year Award.
Also Read: Piers Morgan Left Red-Faced After He Tried To Troll Sachin Tendulkar
What made Gambhir different from great openers like Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and others was his aggressive nature. Unlike his illustrious predecessors and contemporaries, Gambhir never shied away from resorting to a verbal duel when the situation demanded or speaking his mind out. However, Upton has sensationally claimed that Gambhir was “mentally the most insecure, negative and pessimistic”.
Also Read:Cricket West Indies Accepts BCCI’s Request To Delay India-West Indies Series: Report
In his book ‘The Barefoot Coach’, Upton discussed the mental toughness of elite sportspersons and how they react to situations.
“I did some of my best and least effective mental conditioning work with Gautam Gambhir, the International Test Cricketer of the Year’ in 2009. I worked with him up until that time but I had little to do with him being named world’s best cricketer,” Upton wrote in his book.
He further wrote:
“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,” added Upton.
Upton also shed some light on MS Dhoni‘s personality, saying the former India captain has “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,” Upton wrote.
