Hyderabad:Former India batter Aakash Chopra acknowledged that he and current India head coach Gautam Gambhir were competitors for the opening spot in the Indian cricket team during their playing careers in the 2000s. Notably, both the cricketers used to represent Delhi and often battled for the top spot.
Chopra, who has played 10 Tests, made his international debut in 2003 and used to open with another Delhi boy Virender Sehwag until Gambhir, receiving his maiden India cap in 2004, replaced him as an opener. However, Gambhir had a prolonged India career, having played 58 Tests while Chopra didn't play a single Test after 2004.
Speaking on the podcast with Raj Shamani, Aakash Chopra opened up on his relationship with Gautam Gambhir. "We were competitors to begin with. He wasn't a friend, to be honest. (But he was a) very passionate guy, very hard-working, and very serious about his craft. And he scored a lot of runs. But he always wore his heart on the sleeve, was extremely passionate, and could short-fuse very quickly in terms of temperament."
"We are competitors because we were fighting for one place. Our team was very good. When we were playing, only one of Kohli and Dhawan got the chance to play. The team was like that. In fact, there was no place for Viru to open the batting. Viru batted four so that we can accommodate one of Shikhar and Virat at 3," he added.
The southpaw has scored more than 10,000 international runs and was the vital cog in India's successful triumphs in the ODI and T20 World Cups under the leadership of MS Dhoni in 2011 and 2007 respectively.
