Hyderabad: Former India batter Aakash Chopra recalled the incident when current India head coach Gautam Gambhir had fought with a truck driver.
Both Chopra and Gambhir used to play for Delhi in their playing days in the domestic circuit. However, they often battled out for the opening spot in the state and Indian cricket team.
Speaking at Raj Shamani's podcast, Aakash Chopra recalled the incident from the dressing room in Delhi. While suggesting that the southpaw's aggression is what makes him different from other cricketers, Chopra also recalled an incident.
"Passionate guy. Very hardworking when it comes to his craft. A bit serious but scored a lot of runs. He always wore his heart on his sleeve. Temperament wise he can be very short-fused. But everyone has a different character. Gautam is someone who once fought with a truck driver in Delhi. He got out of his car and climbed the truck to grab the collar of the driver because he made a wrong turn and was abusing. So that's made him Gautam," Aakash Chopra said.
However, Chopra, who played 10 Tests for India, admitted that he and Gambhir were not good friends because of the competition in the team at the start for the opening spots.
"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," Chopra further revealed.
"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 even Viru to open the batting. Viru batted four so that we can accommodate one of Shikhar and Virat at 3."
Gambhir is set to take charge of his first Test game as head coach of the Indian team in the upcoming first Test against Bangladesh, starting September 19.
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