Gautam Gambhir and Shahid Afridi who once shared arguments on-field have now shifted it to the online social media platform, Twitter. Responding to a passage in Shahid Afridi’s book, Gambhir called him a ‘traitor’ and a ‘liar.’
Known for his nonchalant attitude on the field, Gautam Gambhir has been involved in many arguments while playing for the Indian cricket team and for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. The famous are the ones with former Pakistan captain, Shahid Afridi. Both of them have shared a major portion of their career playing against each other. This was prior to the 26/11 attacks.
Gambhir calls Afridi a traitor
The most popular argument between the two was when Pakistan toured India in 2007. The One Day International game was hosted at Kanpur. Gambhir was trying to take a run off Afridi’s bowling when the latter tried to obstruct that led to a spat between the two. The on-field umpire Ian Gould had to intervene to calm them down.
The recent word-off on twitter is related to Shahid Afridi’s autobiographical book ‘Game Changer.’ In the book, Afridi reminisces his friendship with Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, and Ajay Jadeja. In a passage from the book, Afridi calls Gambhir as a player having an ‘attitude problem’ without having great cricket records. In his book, he says,
“Gautam Gambhir and his attitude problem. He, who has no personality. He, who is barely a character in the great scheme of cricket. He, who has no great records, just a lot of attitude. He, who behaves like he’s a cross between Don Bradman and James Bond.”
This has reportedly triggered the Indian cricketer who retaliated on Twitter by mentioning his contribution of 75 against Pakistan in the final of the World T20 Championship in 2007. India had won the trophy after defeating Pakistan in a nail biter.
Someone who doesn’t remember his age how will he remember my records!OK @SAfridiOfficial let me remind u one: 2007 T20 WC final, Ind Vs Pak Gambhir 75 off 54 balls Vs Afridi 0 off 1 ball. Most imp: We won the Cup. And yes, I’ve attitude towards liars, traitors & opportunists.
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) April 18, 2020
Although the man of the match award went to Irfan Pathan in the final, it was Gautam Gambhir’s 75 that drove India to a defendable total. Under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, India lifted the World T20 2007 when Sreesanth took the catch of Misbah-ul-Haq at the fine leg of the bowling of Joginder Sharma.
Source: The Indian Express
