Gautam Gambhir upset over Salman Khan’ appointment for Olympics ambassador

Gautam Gambhir, the skipper of the Kolkata Knight Riders expressed hurt following the naming of Bollywood actor Salman Khan as the goodwill ambassador for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Gambhir also stated that he strongly believed that he would have been happier if another sportsperson had been offered the honor ahead of the actor.

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir said, “Look I believe in that as well. There are no shortages of real sportspersons in this country and people have done some massive things in this country. I would have been happier if someone like Abhinav Bindra or someone else would have been made the ambassador.”

“Because I personally feel that sportsmen do not need publicity. They do the job for their country because that’s their passion. Personally, a sportsperson would have been a much better choice. I thought Abhinav Bindra would have been the ideal choice because he won the first gold medal for India (individual) at the Olympic games. Sportspersons do not need Bollywood or any film industry for publicity”, he added.

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The 34-year old southpaw also opened up about the impressive season the Knight Riders are having at the moment. He also highlighted the importance of consistency in the league and the team.

“People are saying we have a balanced side because we’re at the top of the table. You wouldn’t have said this if we would have been somewhere in the middle or lower in the table. It’s still the start of the tournament. We’ve realized what happened last year. We were right at the top of the table after the twelfth game but we still didn’t qualify for the playoffs.

“So we got to learn from those mistakes. Hopefully, we’ve started in the same way. Winning is a habit and it’s a good habit to have. It takes a lot of courage to come back after defeat. It takes, even more, courage to keep winning, I feel this bunch of people that we have in the dressing room are a very hungry lot,” he added.

“Obviously, consistency is very important in all the formats of the game. He has shown how consistent he is. That is what you thrive for in International cricket that you can continue that form for as long as possible in all three formats of the game” he concluded.

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