Paddy Upton, who worked with the Indian cricket team as their mental conditioning coach and was part of the support staff during the 2011 World Cup triumph has made some interesting comments about former India opener Gautam Gambhir.
According to a PTI report, Upton, in his book, 'The Barefoot Coach,' said that of all the cricketers he worked with in his time with the Indian team, Gambhir was found to be "mentally the most insecure". In excerpts of the book published by the agency, the former member of the Indian team's support staff reveals the unique mindset that the left-hander possessed.
"I did some of my best and least effective mental conditioning work with Gautam Gambhir, the International Test Cricketer of the Year' in 2009....Using popular notion of mental toughness, he was one of the weakest and mentally most insecure people I have worked with," Upton writes in his book.
Always unhappy
He further added that Gambhir was loathe to feel satisfied even after registering a big score and always saw the glass as half-empty. Using a scale of 0 to 100 where 0 stands for pessimistic and 100 for highly optimistic, the South African coach rated Gauti on the lower side of the scale. "Let's say his range was 20 to 40 with 30 being normal. When he scored 150, he would be disappointed in not scoring 200."
But Upton, who is currently the head coach of Rajasthan Royals, also had words of great praise for the Delhi batsman. "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."
Gambhir, who is currently busy campaigning for himself as a BJP candidate in Delhi responded positively to the assertions. Gambhir's response was, "I wanted myself and Indian team to be the best in the world. That's why I was not satisfied even after scoring 100 as it has been mentioned in Paddy's book. I see nothing wrong there. As a driven individual I have tried to raise the bar for myself alone," the cricketer-turned politician stated.
