India head coach Gautam Gambhir is known for being serious and not laugh much – until his recent meet up with Virat Kohli – but his 'true personality', as described by his coach is something else. Gambhir is one of the very few cricketers to have won both ODI and T20I World Cups for India, and while he was a regular in India's Playing XI, he witnessed more highs and few lows. It is because of Gambhir's relentless stride towards being the best and injecting a winning mentality that people mistake his 'winning attitude' as arrogance, says GG's childhood coach Sanjay Bharadwaj.

Bharadwaj is a renowned coach in the Delhi cricketing circuit, who has overseen and helped shape the future of several cricketers, including Amit Mishra and Joginder Sharma. But it's his association with Gambhir that is one of the longest, dating back to over three decades. A recipient of the Guru Dronacharya Award in 2019, a sports coaching honour in India, Bharadwaj recalled the early days of Gambhir and revealed how even as a 12–13-year-old, the mere thought of losing was not something he could live with.

"Gautam Gambhir is a kid. Even today he is like an innocent kid. He has no malice. He is like a 12-year-old kid. People think he is arrogant, but that is his attitude towards winning. I used to make him play matches after nets and he would cry after losing matches. He did not like losing even back then," Bharadwaj told former India Under-19 World Cup winner Manjot Kalra on his YouTube show.

"So, a person with a true personality as him will obviously remain serious. If you get in your comfort zone, if you're smiling all the time, you will you win. A person who understands how to win should know how to avoid defeat. People think he has attitude, this and that. No, Gambhir is pure at heart. He is polite; has made the careers of so many youngsters."

Gambhir and Bharadwaj's 33-year-old bond

Gambhir came to Bharadwaj even before he was a teenager back in 1991 and the two have remained close ever since. Even when Gambhir was out of the Indian team, he would constantly reach out to Bharadwaj, all the way till 2018 when he announced his retirement. The coach takes a lot of pride in having a disciple in Gambhir, who he claims keeps in touch to this date and reveals that Gambhir has gone out of his way to push players whom he feels had what it takes. For Navdeep Saini, Bharadwaj reveals Gambhir even confronted the DDCA to give him a chance. Had it not been for Gambhir's insistence, Saini would have had to wait even longer to play for the Indian team, points out Bharadwaj.

As coach, some of Gambhir's tactics have already left opinions divided. In the Sri Lanka tour, the likes of Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma have all rolled their arms over, something that wasn't experimented at all during the Rahul Dravid or the Ravi Shastri era. But that's the difference that Gambhir brings to the table. The Indian team isn't the first instance of Gambhir trying things out of the box. As Bharadwaj unveils, this practice dates back to Gambhir's days at Kolkata Knight Riders as their captain.

"Gautam Gambhir will not go after the technical aspects. Because at that level, there is not need for technical improvement. You are there because you are good enough technically. What Gambhir will work on is the tactical aspects. Gambhir's job will be to boost morale and inject confidence into a player who may not to too sure about himself," the coach added.

"Gambhir had told Sunil Narine three months ago that he doesn't want bowling from him and that he should work on his batting. If Gambhir feels a player can win matches, he will back him to the hilt. That's his biggest trait. He has the attitude that a coach needs to have – fearlessness and a habit of winning."