Courtesy: X
During a special sit-down interview in the build-up to the two-match Test series against Bangladesh, Gautam Gambhir, the head coach of India, and Virat Kohli reminisced about their playing days for the national team. At one point in their chat, Gautam Gambhir pointed out to Virat Kohli about how the latter chanted a devotional mantra “Om Namah Shivay” before facing every delivery during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) Test series in Australia 2014-15, when his international career took off to the next level.
Notably, during his trip down under in the winter of 2014-15, Virat Kohli scored a whopping 692 runs in just eight innings, at an average 86.50 with four hundreds and one fifty. Although India lost the four-match Test series 0-2 against Australia, Virat Kohli also took over the captaincy reigns from MS Dhoni at the turn of the year, while putting his name among the best batters in the world in all formats of the game, which he still is.
You kept saying “Om Namah Shivay” before every delivery: Gambhir to Kohli during Australia Tests 2014-15
The interview of Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir, posted by BCCI on their official X account, had them discussing the highs and lows of their cricketing careers, apart from divulging into the personalities of each other. Kohli asked Gambhir, as per India Today, “Let's talk about a few moments in India-Australia series. The most special one will be the double hundred in our home. I won't talk about the elbow, because I guess I know why the elbow would have happened (Gambhir elbowing Shane Watson). I want to talk about the mindset of the innings. What keeps you grounded and anchored?”
Here is the link to Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli's special sit-down interview:
In response, Gautam Gambhir decided to talk to Virat Kohli about his exploits in Australia from a decade ago, revealing to the fans about how the Indian cricketer chanted devotional mantra while batting in the four-match Test series. He was quoted as saying, “Great question. Instead of talking about me, I remember when you had that bumper series in Australia, where you scored heaps and heaps of runs, you were telling me that you kept saying “Om Namah Shivay” before every delivery. And that got you in that zone.”
After that, Gautam Gambhir mentioned the famous Napier Test between New Zealand and India from 2009, where he batted for two-and-a-half days, to save the match for the national team during which he listened to a devotional hymn “Hanuman Chalise.” He said, “When I played in Napier. I batted for 2-and-half days. I don't think I could have ever done that again. The only thing I did for those 2-and-a-half days was listen to Hanuman Chalisa.”
“For me, getting into that zone, you got there by chanting Om Namah Shivay, for me, I got into that zone by listening to Hanuman Chalisa. When I talk about being in that zone, very few times in your career, you can be in that zone. It's divine to be in that zone,” Gautam Gambhir added.
