Thinking of watching Baahubali 2 with team-mates: Gautam Gambhir

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir got a little nostalgic when he returned to Bengaluru where all big things started to happen for him almost two decades ago. Gambhir was a part of the first batch of young budding cricketers to be invited at the National Cricket Academy back in the year 2000. He was a part of the batch that had the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammad Kaif, and Zaheer Khan.

Now, Gambhir was back to Bengaluru and recalled his early experiences from the city. In his column titled the “captain’s diary” for the official website of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Gambhir recalled how the young players got stumped over the question of answering their mother tongues. The humorous side of the ever-so-serious Gautam Gambhir was on display when he described the anecdote.

“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!”, recalled Gautam Gambhir.

He further wrote about another incident but decided not to reveal the name of his team-mate here as well. He remembered that one of the players when asked about homesickness, had answered saying nobody is sick at home. Gambhir surely could not hold on to his laughter after hearing that back then.

“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,”

Lastly, he gushed that he hopes to watch Baahubali 2 with his team mates in the city. He has a friend who owns a multiplex in Bengaluru and hence would be happy to get the tickets despite the movie being a full house in every movie complex.

“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!”