Gautam Gambhir quashes rumors of joining politics; eyes coaching job in near future

12/10/2018

Gautam Gambhir played down rumors that suggested he would be contesting in the next general elections as the former claims he has no interest in getting involved in politics. The left-handed batsman revealed he is keen to take up coaching in competitive cricket in the near future.

Gautam Gambhir, who recently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, has been flooded with messages of gratitude ever since he took to Twitter to reveal his decision. Gambhir is known for his outspoken attitude and is very vocal about various social issues as seen on his Twitter handle.

However, the former left-handed opener dismissed rumors that he would be contesting the next general elections after announcing his retirement. Gambhir was adamant that his stance on certain social issues have prompted such false rumors to develop in the Indian media.""As I just mentioned I haven't even thought about it (politics) and it is a completely different field. 25 years I have not done anything else, so let's see what I am going to do. There are rumours which I have heard as well, probably the reason is maybe I take up social issues as well... For me Twitter was always a platform which is very, very important and where I take up social issues.

"I am not that kind of a character where I am going to start joking on a platform like twitter as well. For me being a citizen of this country it is my right to take up social issues and that probably is the reason why people thing I am going to join politics but there is nothing of that sort," Gambhir revealed in an interview with BCCI.

Gambhir, who last played in for India in 2016 in Rajkot, indicated that he was more open to a coaching role in the near future.

"One thing which excites me is action and I am sure action is not about sitting in those AC rooms doing commentary and stuff. I don't know if I am going to be as good a coach as I have been a player.

"I will have to evaluate whether I can be successful as a coach. Let's see, if that comes around and if I feel that I have the energy, passion and if I have the commitment to do it, I will think about it," Gambhir added.

Gambhir represented India in 58 Test matches and scored a total of 4154 runs in the process, while adding 5238 runs in ODIs and 932 in T20Is. The world cup winning batsman also revealed that he saw himself as a mentor to youngsters and hoped to help the kids in his state team of Delhi.

"I am still a government nominee, hopefully I can now try and contribute more now (since he is no longer a player). There won't be any conflict of interest involved, which is very important and there won't be any criticism as well because when I took this up there were a lot of criticism.

"The boys need a lot of good things in DDCA (Delhi District and Cricket Association) and hopefully I am able to put that word across the executive committee and get those things done from cricket point of view. Apart from that, my job is to get the best out of the boys," Gambhir added.

Get updates! Follow us on

Gautam Gambhir

Open all