New Delhi: Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir made a stunning revelation about senior India batter Virat Kohli as the duo sat down for a candid chat in a special interview organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Gambhir revealed Kohli kept chanting the ‘Om Namah Shivay’ mantra before facing every ball during his dream run in the Test series against Australia in 2014.
Gambhir and Kohli opened up on their mindsets, respective careers and spoke about each other’s personalities in the interview for BCCI. During their conversation, Gambhir recalled Kohli’s amazing run with the bat in the Australia Test series in 2014 and drew similarities with his match-saving knock of 137 runs for India in the Napier Test against New Zealand in 2009.
The conversation started after Kohli asked Gambhir about his double century against Australia in a Test match at his home ground – New Delhi in 2008. The former India opener had played a brilliant knock of 206 runs in India’s first innings of the Test match, helping the hosts set up a huge total of 613 runs on the board.
“Let’s talk about a few moments in the India-Australia series. The most special one will be the double hundred in our home. I won’t talk about the elbow, because I guess I know why the elbow would have happened (Gambhir elbowing Shane Watson). I want to talk about the mindset of the innings. What keeps you grounded and anchored,” Kohli asked Gambhir.
The India head coach decided to respond by recalling Kohli’s heroics during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia in 2014. Kohli enjoyed a fantastic campaign Down Under as he finished as the highest run-getter for India with a whopping 692 runs from 4 matches. Gambhir recalled how Kohli told him once that he batted while chanting ‘Om Namah Shivay’, a devotional hymn throughout the series.
“Great question. Instead of talking about me, I remember when you had that bumper series in Australia, where you scored heaps and heaps of runs, you were telling me that you kept saying ‘Om Namah Shivay’ before every delivery. And that got you in that zone. For me, that’s exactly what happened when I played in Napier. I batted for 2-and-half days,” Gambhir responded.
Gautam Gambhir used to read Hanuman Chalisa to ‘get into the zone’
Gambhir revealed he himself used to read the Hanuman Chalisa, a Hindu devotional hymn when he was in the ‘zone’ during the Napier Test against New Zealand. The India head coach said he has never had such a feeling in his life ever again as he did in the Napier Test where his valiant 137, one of his finest Test knocks, helped India avoid defeat against the Kiwis despite conceding 619 runs in the first innings.
“I don’t think I could have ever done that again. The only thing I did for those 2-and-a-half days was listen to Hanuman Chalisa. For me, getting into that zone, you got there by chanting Om Namah Shivay, for me, I got into that zone by listening to Hanuman Chalisa. When I talk about being in that zone, very few times in your career, you can be in that zone. It’s divine to be in that zone,” said Gambhir.
When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object—cricket’s greatest paradox, personified! 👌 👌
Presenting an iconic interaction between #TeamIndia Head Coach @GautamGambhir & the legendary @imVkohli 👏 👏 – By @RajalArora & @Moulinparikh#INDvBAN | @IDFCFIRSTBank
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 18, 2024
Kohli, Gambhir bury the rumours in special interaction
Kohli and Gambhir have had their differences in the past and there were a lot of rumours about how their relationship would be in the Indian dressing room once the former India opener was appointed as the head coach. However, the duo have buried the hatchet for the team’s cause and seem to be enjoying their newly-found camaraderie.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir made a stunning revelation during his freehweeeling chat with Virat Kohli in a video for BCCI. Gambhir revealed Kohli kept chanting ‘Om Namah Shivay’ during his dream run in the Test series against Australia in 2014. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
