Gambhir Says "Won't Become NRI". Report Says Jibe Aimed At 2 Ex-India Captains
Those living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones at others." India head coach Gautam Gambhir hardly pulled back punches as he responded to criticism from a couple of former Test stars, accusing them of treating Indian cricket as their "personal fiefdom". While Gambhir didn't take names, he dropped enough hints to make it obvious that the target of his outburst were two former India skippers from Mumbai, who have been critical of him since his playing days.
"I am into this job for eight months. If results don't come, I am absolutely fine with criticism. It is people's job to criticise. There are people who are sitting in the commentary box for 25 years and feel that Indian cricket is their personal fiefdom," Gambhir said at ABP News' 'India At 2047' Summit.
"Unfortunately, Indian cricket's no one's personal property and it belongs to 140 crore Indians," he asserted.
"These people have raised questions about my coaching, my records, concussions (when he left 2011 Tour of England after a head injury), to distribution of Champions Trophy prize money. I don't need to tell anybody where I have spent money and where I have invested. But this country must know such players are NRIs who earn in India and take the money outside. I don't immigrate at 11:55 to spend 180 days...I am an Indian. I will never become NRI to save tax," the straight-talker from Delhi said.
A former India head coach, who is also a commentator, had spoken about Gambhir's "concussion" not being particularly serious during the team's 0-4 whitewash at the hands of England in 2011.
As far as the Champions Trophy prize money is concerned, it was former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar, who wondered in his column for 'Sportstar' whether Gambhir would follow his predecessor Rahul Dravid and share the windfall with the support staff.
"After India's T20 World Cup win, Rahul Dravid, always a team player, chose not to take more than his fellow coaches.
"He shared the reward equally with them. However, with the announcement of the Champions Trophy rewards, we haven't heard any comment from the current coach, Gautam Gambhir, on whether he will adopt Dravid's approach. Does Dravid's example no longer hold value?" Gambhir did not take Gavaskar's name but it was evident that he had not taken kindly to the poser in the column.
"I don't owe any explanation to anyone as to whether I have given money or not...Those living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones at others." Gambhir also rejected the speculation surrounding his differences with Test and ODI skipper Rohit Sharma.
"...who are these people, who are saying all these things? These are speculations done by experts and those who run YouTube channels. Two months back, a coach and a captain together won a Champions Trophy.
"Imagine what you would ask if we wouldn't have won CT. I respect what Rohit has done for Indian cricket. I have got a lot of time for someone like Rohit Sharma. It was from start and it will remain like that with him," he asserted.
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