Former Indian cricket team batter Gautam Gambhir is no stranger to controversies as he is regularly featured in news – either for his achievements or for his blunt comments. The left-handed batter played a massive role in guiding India to the 2007 and 2011 World Cup victories and he has also won two Indian Premier League (IPL) titles with Kolkata Knight Riders as skipper. Ravichandran Ashwin believes that Gambhir is sometimes mistaken by the fans and experts but he is actually one of the most selfless cricketers he has seen. Ashwin event went on to call him the “most misunderstood cricketer in India”.

“Gautam Gambhir is the most misunderstood cricketer in India. The greatest team man is the greatest individual in terms of taking a fight. He might not be very expressive, but he is in your face. It was not just that knock (the WC final); there were several knocks leading into the final, where Gautam has been an unsung hero. He literally did not allow the pressure to get to us. Selfless. I would have said if he could have been 120–130 not-out but selfless. He wanted to shut the game out. I have always had massive respect for the man. People give him much less credit than he deserves,” Ashwin said on YouTube.

Ashwin could be included as the third spinner behind Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav against Australia in India’s Cricket World Cup 2023 opener ahead of pacer Shardul Thakur considering a possibly gripping pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, and his hold over veterans David Warner and Steve Smith.

Ashwin, who takes the ball away from the left-handers with his off-breaks, has had the measure of Warner in the past, dismissing him 11 times in the Tests.

The Aussie had batted right-handed in the recent second ODI against India at Indore to counter Ashwin. Smith, a consistent run-scorer in ODIs, too had his struggles against the Indian maestro, especially in Test cricket. Hence, it would not be a big surprise to see Ashwin getting a nod ahead of Thakur in the first match at Chepauk.

Ashwin, who replaced injured Axar Patel in India’s World Cup squad, bowled for an extended session at the nets in Chennai to Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Thakur among others.

(With PTI inputs)