While rivalry between sportsmen is not uncommon, one of the most unique, as well as the most aggressive rivalries, that between Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi and Indian cricketing star Gautam Gambhir. Be it their fiery exchange at Kanpur in 2007, or the occasional rivalry online, none of the two have tried to bury the hatchet.
However, Shahid Afridi took the rivalry to a new low, when he mocked Gautam Gambhir and his cricketing abilities. In his autobiography titled ‘Game Changer’, Shahid alleged that Gautam Gambhir did not make any records, and was just an average cricketer with a lot of attitude.
To quote an excerpt from his book, ‘Some rivalries were personal, some professional. First the curious case of Gautam Gambhir. Oh poor Gautam. He 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.’
Afridi didn’t just stop at that. He also added, “Gambhir behaves like he’s a cross between Don Bradman and James Bond. In Karachi, we call guys like him saryal (grumpy). It’s simple, I like happy and positive people. Doesn’t matter if they are aggressive or competitive, but you have to be positive and Gambhir wasn’t.’
The frustration of not being able to give it back to Gambhir in style is clearly visible from the language of the book. Apart from being atrocious, the so called claims of Afridi doesn’t even stand a chance when tested by cold facts. For all his bravado, Shahid Afridi has a lower ODI average than Gautam Gambhir. Besides, we all know how Gautam led us to two historic World Cup Championships, one in T 20 in 2007 and the other in ODI in 2011. As such, Shahid Afridi is the last person on earth who has the authority to speak about Gautam Gambhir.
Interestingly, when Gautam Gambhir learnt about Shahid’s Jones, he gave it back in his own style, as shown below:-
@SAfridiOfficial you are a hilarious man!!! Anyway, we are still granting visas to Pakistanis for medical tourism. I will personally take you to a psychiatrist.
— Gautam Gambhir (Modi Ka Parivar) (@GautamGambhir) May 4, 2019
This is not the first time the cricketer turned politician had taken on his opponents with such class. A couple of weeks ago, when separatist leader and ex Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti took a dig on his career, Gautam replied back in style, and exposed her hypocrisy following which Mehbooba herself blocked his account and tried to portray herself as a victim. We hope that Gautam continues to slay his political opponents like this and wins the mandate of his constituency as well.