Gurbaz hails Gambhir as 'best coach, human being', says backlash makes 'no sense'
Dubai (PTI): Gautam Gambhir's coaching methods may have polarised opinions in India but dashing Afghanistan keeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz has no hesitation in admitting former KKR Mentor as the "best coach" that he has played under and is baffled by the kind of criticism levelled at him in recent weeks.
Gambhir has faced the wrath of one and all after India’s 0-2 Test home whitewash against South Africa that came a year after the unprecedented 0-3 home series defeat to New Zealand, ending India's long-standing dominance at home, where they have now lost five of their last seven Tests.
Gurbaz, an integral part of the IPL winning KKR squad in 2024, feels that this outrage against his "Gautam sir" doesn't make much of a sense.
"If 1.4 billion people are there in your country, you can say 2-3 million will be against him. The rest are with Gautam sir and with India team. It doesn’t make sense to talk about them," the 24-year-old told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of the fourth season of the ILT20 here.
"He's the best ever coach and human being, mentor that I have had in my career so far. I love the way he goes about things," Afghanistan opener couldn't stop waxing eloquent.
He was quick to point out at the kind of success Indian team has enjoyed under Gambhir's stewardship.
"India just won the Champions Trophy in ODI format, Asia Cup in T20 format. They have won a lot of series, so you can’t blame them for one series."
Gurbaz said Gambhir’s biggest strength was the environment he built at KKR of a relaxed, pressure-free and rooted in discipline which allowed the team to flourish.
"I love the way he goes about his job. When you have a good environment, you will be always on the top. He made the environment very easy for us, nothing stressful, nothing strict... and that’s why we won the tournament," he said.
"He is not strict but he is disciplined. He is strict only when something goes against discipline."
The Afghan opener said Indian cricketers deserve empathy, not harsh judgment when chips are down.
"As a cricketer, I will never blame players because everyone works hard and tries their best. They lost, so what? They are human. Sometimes you lose -- it’s part of life. When you are going through bad times, that’s when you need support."
Gurbaz called his three-year stint with KKR “very exciting”.
"Being with KKR for 3 years and then winning the championship was very good."
He also recalled being part of Gujarat Titans’ victorious 2022 campaign.
"I am the guy who went won two IPL championships -- first year with Gujarat," he said, referring to his stint as a replacement signing.
Released ahead of the upcoming auction by KKR, he is looking forward to the auction later this month.
"I am in the auction now...will see whoever wants me, where I deserve to go. Looking for a great season ahead."
He added that Delhi Capitals, apart from KKR, is his favourite team as India's national capital is his favourite city.
"Delhi feels like home. When I am in Delhi I feel like I am in Afghanistan," said Gurbaz, who would often frequent Afghan eateries in capital's Lajpat Nagar, Bhogal, Jangpura areas.
Gurbaz further backed Shubman Gill to grow as a leader.
"I wish him very best of luck for his captaincy. Why not? If he can do captaincy in IPL, Test and ODI sides, he can lead anywhere."
He said defending champions India will start favourites in the next year's T20 World Cup even without Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
"India have a lot of players. Virat and Rohit have a specific place in India… it should be forever and we will remember them forever."
Afghanistan face New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and UAE in their group in the tournament beginning on February 7.
"Just looking forward to win the two matches to qualify. We don't target specific teams... Cricket is the only game where any team can beat you."
"UAE, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa are all the same for us. Cricket can hurt you if you take someone lightly."
Representing Gulf Giants this season, Gurbaz said: "ILT20 is a very exciting tournament. Most of the IPL players are here... It is a very clean, nice, tough competition. Looking forward to doing good performance."
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
