Shahid Afridi, Pakistan’s former cricket captain, invited sharp criticism from cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir after the former criticised Gambhir for his attitude problem. In his autobiography Game Changer, Afridi said poor Gambhir has a lot of attitude which is good for nothing.
The Pakistani cricketer, who is known for his aggressive style of play, both on and off the field, has stirred a hornet’s nest after he said, “Gambhir has no personality, no world records but a lot of attitude.” Afridi even went on to say that Gambhir is barely a character in the great scheme of cricket but behaves as if he’s a cross between Sir Donald Bradman, James Bond or something. “In Karachi, people call guys like him saryal, burnt up,” Afridi said. That would roughly mean someone who is excessively jealous and therefore bitter.
Afridi recalled how Gambhir had run straight into him when the batsman was trying to complete his single during the 2007 Asia Cup. Reports said both Afridi and Gambhir were booked for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct over the clash during an ODI match between India and Pakistan.
Afridi has also mentioned in his autobiography that he goes deeper into the players’ psyche while playing against India and Gambhir hardly mattered for him since there were bigger fishes to fry in Team India.
On the other hand, Gambhir, who is contesting on a BJP ticket from East Delhi Lok Sabha seat, responded to the Pakistani cricketer on Saturday. Gambhir said Afridi is a hilarious man and he would personally like to take him to a psychiatrist as India is still granting visas to Pakistani nationals on humanitarian grounds.
It is but obvious that both Gambhir and Afridi are not buddies, either on or off the field.
