‘Talking about myself was a problem’

From being nicknamed Mr Casualty to becoming an All England champion Indiarsquos chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand has come a long way The sporting icon would rather have you dwell on his ups than downs in his recentlyreleased autobiography Shuttlerrsquos Flick Making Every Match Count coauthored by Priya Kumar Simon amp Schuster ldquoTalking about myself has always been a problem I can speak about the future but dwelling on my playing days and injuries wasnrsquot easyrdquo shares Gopichand on why he was reluctant to tell his story adding ldquoHaving Priya around who is a great listener made it a lot easierrdquoExcerpts from the interviewWho was your favourite Hyderabadi sportsperson considering there are so many from the regionI think all of them in my time from cricketers VVS Laxman to Mohammed Azharuddin I also really appreciate what weightlifter Karnam Malleswari has done She has been a huge inspiration Sania Mirza too is phenomenal Irsquod say Mukesh Kumar in hockey Both Sania and Mukesh came out of nowhere Laxman and Azhar came from very different backgrounds to become great stars for IndiaDr APJ Abdul Kalam hands Gopichand the Padma Shri Award in New Delhi 2005You won the All England title on the same day that Harbhajan Singh became the Indiarsquos first hattrick man in Test cricket How do you equate this to Indiarsquos Red Letter Day in sportI have been reminded of that on some occasions India beat Australia and Laxman scored his famous runs 281 and the Test match turned the tide around for that series win against Australia in Kolkata at the Eden Gardens I remember one of the headlines that said lsquoHad steak for lunch and Chinese for dinnerrsquo We beat the Australians and we beat the Chinese Chen Hong to win the medal It was a great day for sport in 2001From being nicknamed Mr Casualty to becoming an AllEngland champion what has been a constant in your lifeThe casualty laughs I think I have tried everything and given it all I have Thatrsquos how I was when I started playing the sport I am the same even now and it is something that I am happy aboutGopichand during the official launch of Badminton Gurukul at MCA BKC in Mumbai in 2019When you suffered a serious knee injury in 1994 and were called a lsquolangdarsquo while you were recovering what kept you goingFor me sport is everything I wasnrsquot good at any other thing and for me getting back was super important Today we are all knowledgeable in terms of sport We can Google anything Thirty years ago sports science was nascent People coming out of injuries or orthopaedic or physiotherapy knowledge was less I loved the sport and I wanted to come back Thatrsquos all I cared about When my doctor said lsquoYou will be okayrsquo I trusted him and I didnrsquot look around for other things to do That belief is what eventually helpedTell us something more about coach Hamid Husseinrsquos cassata icecream reward for hitting three of the four targets in 20 smashes As coach what treat do you offer studentsAs we speak I am going out for lunch with a bunch of athletes who won in Uganda and I am super excited for them Dinner would be one For me those days with Hussein sir were memorable We could not afford it icecream In the village ice used to come in two forms ice gola or popsicles One was five paise and the other was 20 paise Coming to town and eating cassata was a big treat Sir would sign us up for chicken corn soup and cassata He was warm and affectionate He truly made me love the sport That is vital for a coach especially with young kidsYou have mentioned in the book that your brother was a brilliant student and a player while you were the one who tailgated to the passing line In todayrsquos context is it important to strike a balance between education and sportsI think each one has some strength or talent As a teacher and parent I would want us to find what they are good at rather than deciding what they should be My brother was a great student I wasnrsquot If I was pushed into studies I wouldnrsquot have been good at it We need to recognise who is good at what and ensure that we let them pursue what their interest is It is important we have parents or coaches who train children to be prepared for anythingYou said that coach SM Arifrsquos advice to you was lsquoDefeat should never bother you the lack of preparation shouldrsquo Is that the same advice you give your studentsThe only thing which is in our hands is to prepare well If we have lost itrsquos not usually because there is no will to win but it is because you have not prepared enough to win We have to ensure that the next time we are on court we are fully prepared I hated that feeling of being underpreparedThe most interesting chapter of the book is the Your Solitude and Your Truth But would you have liked players like Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu talk about how they felt when they decided to train with a different coachI wanted this book to be an inspiration for kids They have their careers ahead of them and these things dont matter for them As a coach it will be very difficult to talk about those issues ever I can make a statement about Saina or Sindhu or they can do the same or any other former players can But during an active coaching career I do not wish to talk about those private conversations