For someone who was slammed for poor technique and branded a one-day specialist, Gautam Gambhir has come a long way. The first Indian batsman to top the ICC Test rankings in four years, he speaks to G.S. Vivek about his game, his golden run, his critics, his special bond with Gary Kirsten and about the ‘real’ world No1 Virender Sehwag

What are your childhood memories of cricket? Did you always enjoy Tests more than ODIs?

• As a kid, going out to play cricket with my friends, my dream was always to play Test cricket for India. If you look at the legends of the game, they all have fantastic Test records. I wanted to be like them. All the big names are known by their Test records rather than their one-day or T20 stats. Test cricket was always my parameter of success, and that’s where I wanted to reach the pinnacle.

You have been called the Bradman of T20 cricket, but is it true that you’re a purist at heart?

• I’m 100 per cent a purist. I’ll have no regrets in exchanging all my ODI and T20 achievements for something in Tests. All forms of the game are different — you want to do well in all of them, that’s a different challenge altogether. But if you ask any cricketer what satisfies him the most, he will not bat an eyelid before saying Test cricket, for it challenges your temperament and skill in equal measure. A batsman has to adapt to the changing scenario every day, and you have to be good over five days to win a game. That is the ultimate test.

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