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Aakash Chopra advises Gautam Gambhir to avoid frequent fights warning it invites criticism and sets up expectations of failure.
Gautam Gambhir (Picture Credit: AFP)
Former India opener Aakash Chopra has advised Gautam Gambhir to stop ‘picking up so many fights’ after the lads’s head coach not directly attacked Delhi Capitals owner Parth Jindal for suggesting split coaching for the team. Chopra said that by doing this, Gambhir is barely setting himself up for more criticism.
Gambhir took a jibe at Jindal — he asked him to remain in his ‘domain’ — after India sealed the three-ODI series against South Africa. Before that, India lost the house Test series against the Proteas — giving Gambhir the second home whitewash of his coaching profession. That naturally brought criticism from all quarters, with many observers finding the Delhi politician-turned-coach’s methods to be directly accountable for India’s failures.
“You expect that with Gautam,” Chopra said in a YouTube video on his channel. “When he involves press conferences, he speaks his heart out. He doesn’t leave anything behind. I actually have a suggestion for Gautam. I’ll probably tell him after we meet. While you come across someone so fiery, and once you go after a person or something, people then start waiting for Gautam to fail. At times, it looks like you’re setting yourself up for this type of criticism,” he added.
“One thing is for certain with Gautam. His heart is in the appropriate place, and he’s a really passionate guy. He’s all the time able to fight for the country and the country’s team. My only suggestion is don’t fight. People might be waiting to see your downfall. You might have to please no one. Don’t pick up so many fights,” he added.
Dissecting the explanations behind Gambhir’s remark, Chopra said that perhaps there have been some ‘undercurrents’ between them, suggesting that perhaps the pinnacle coach didn’t expect that criticism from Jindal.
“I felt it was barely unnecessary. Nonetheless, sometimes we fail to grasp the undercurrents behind it. I’m not attempting to defend him. Nonetheless, at times, you are feeling bad about someone because you recognize that person’s opinion of you has been different earlier as well, so let me just fire it back,” he added. “That may need been the case with that one person. Otherwise, I don’t think there may be merit within the argument that you just shouldn’t speak in the event you are usually not a website expert,” he said.
Click here so as to add News18 as your chosen news source on Google. December 08, 2025, 19:47 IST
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