Star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin hailed Gautam Gambhir who is soon to become Team India's new head coach saying that Gambhir gave him confidence in his early years.

The star spinner recalled his talks with a former Indian opening batsman during his first full series for India which came against New Zealand in 2012. "I was playing my first full series. I only carried drinks during the first two years before the World Cup (in 2011). He gave me a lot of confidence at the beginning (of his career). I was not used to someone beyond my state (Tamil Nadu) giving me that sort of confidence," said Ashwin while launching his book I Have the Streets - A Kutti Cricket Story here.