Picture Credit: Twitter
While the India-Pakistan match is a few hours away, the social media banter is already on. Be it fans of the two teams or former cricketers, everyone is participating in the debate around the game. As India and Pakistan share a great cricketing rivalry, there are many stories of players from the two teams engaging in a verbal spat.
One of the stories involve former India opener Gautam Gambhir and former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi. It was way back in 2007 when the two almost got involved in physical altercation after exchanging a few words. Although the on-field umpire separated the two players, the heat between them was felt throughout the game as well as many years after that ODI in Kanpur.
Now, as the two teams are gearing up to take on each other, these old stories have reignited and fans have started sharing old videos as well. Meanwhile, a media house asked Shahid Afridi about his rivalries with Indian players, the former Pakistan all-rounder tried to give a balanced answer by saying that there was no such rivalry. He did mention his feud with Gambhir, but he also made a loose comment about the former India cricketer by saying that Gambhir is the kind of player that is not liked even by his teammates.
“I get many messages from India but there is nothing as such with me that I have had issued with any player. There is that video involving me and Gambhir that is widely articulated on social media but then Gambhir is the kind of player who is not liked even by his teammates,” said Afridi on a show organized by SportsTak.
The strange thing was that the journalist taking those comments and former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh who was also a part of the panel laughed at Afridi’s comments. With the video of this incident going viral, it attracted different comments from users. Most of which slammed Afridi for making that remark and defended Gambhir.
“Afridi saying such things is understandable but sad to see @vikrantgupta73 sir and Harbhajan Singh @harbhajan_singh sir laughing instead of countering,” wrote one user. “Gautam Sir is the Underdog of team India. He has the tremendous contribution in important matches. For me He is the hero of 2011 world cup. It was Gautam sir's hardwork that won India world cup. For me he is above all,” wrote another.