Gambhir reminisces his fun old NCA days

In 2000, Gautam Gambhir was a part of the inaugural batch of the National Cricket Academy, which is based in the Chinnaswamy stadium in the city of Bangalore. Gambhir spent his NCA days with a group of talented cricketers which included the big names of Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Mohammed Kaif, Murali Karthik, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan. 

The KKR skipper expressed his love for the garden city and stated that the city would feature in tales that he would narrate to his grandchildren. The 35-year old also showed his humorous side as he recalled a story in which NCA asked the players their mother tongue.

“One day we were all asked to fill a NCA form. It was all smooth except one section where one of my future India team-mate fumbled and left us in raptures. The simple question asked in the form was: “Mother tongue.” To which my friend replied “pink” thinking that NCA mandarins wanted to know the colour of the tongue rather than the language!

“One more nugget came when the then NCA director Mr Hanumant Singh was speaking to another of my future India team-mate. The late Mr Singh asked: “Vikas, (name changed to preserve my friendship), are you feeling home sick?” My friend replied, “No sir, nobody is sick at my home, all are healthy.” Let’s move on,” he writes.

Gambhir ended his diary with another solid punch line that made us marvel the depth of the Delhi batsman's subtle humour.

“I am thinking of going to watch Bahubali-2 with some of my team-mates. Another plus point of Bangalore that one of my friend owns a multiplex here, so houseful or no houseful there is always room for me and my friends. Selfish? Agreed. On second thoughts, I am thinking afterall why did NCA wanted to know our mother tongue!”