‘Friendship’ in India-Pakistan cricket: Shahid Afridi’s message of love over Gautam Gambhir’s objection, In the match on September 2, the batsmen of India faced the famous bowlers of Pakistan.
Apart from Pakistan’s bowling and rain in the venue, this match also made news for another reason. The reason for this was former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir.
Former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi also reacted to one of his statements.
When the Asia Cup 2023 started, everyone’s eyes were fixed on one match, which was the match between Pakistan and India.
In the match on September 2, the batsmen of India faced the famous bowlers of Pakistan. Apart from Pakistan’s bowling and rain in the venue, this match also made news for another reason.
The reason for this is a former Indian cricketer and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament from Delhi, Gautam Gambhir.
Whether it was the ‘middle finger’ gesture to the fans in the stadium or the comments made on the players of both countries during the commentary, Gautam Gambhir became the centerpiece of the match news. Former Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi has also given his reaction to a similar statement.
What did Gautam Gambhir say?
During the India v/s Pakistan match, Gautam Gambhir said that when players play for their country, they should leave their friendships outside the field. There must be a ‘game face’, friendship must be kept out, and there must be aggression between the two players.
Gautam Gambhir said, “As friendly as it is but after six to seven hours of the match, these hours are very important because you are not just representing yourself, you are playing for more than 100 crore people.”
During the cricket match between Pakistan and India, some such pictures came out in which the players of both countries were seen loving each other.
Especially, such pictures of Virat Kohli continue to be shared a lot on social media. Most people seemed to interpret this as good sportsmanship.
In the India-Pakistan match, Shadab Khan tied the braces of Hardik Pandya, and his picture was also widely shared on social media.
“Nowadays you see players from two opposing teams tapping and shaking hands,” Gambhir said of the incident without naming anyone. All this did not happen until a few years ago.
‘Keep politics aside’
In Gautam Gambhir’s statement, Shahid Afridi said that the players of both countries have a friendly attitude, which is the best thing. I see it very positively. When we go to any country, there are ambassadors of our country.
India-Pakistan relations can improve only through cricket. Keep politics aside.
On Gautam Gambhir’s statement, Shahid Afridi said that this is his own thinking, My thinking is different. We are cricketers and also ambassadors. We also have fans in the world.
There are fans on both sides. I think it would be better if you just sent a message of love.
Although Shahid Afridi is talking about having different views with Gautam Gambhir, there was also a clash between these two players on the field.
Shahid Afridi was bowling in an ODI match in Kanpur in the year 2007 and Gautam Gambhir was batting hard in front of the wicket.
Gautam Gambhir hit a boundary on Afridi’s ball and then ran to get a run on the very next ball during that time the players clashed and then there were bitter words and later the ICC also fined Gambhir. What was imposed?
On the aggression of players in cricket matches, Afridi said that there is aggression inside the field. Not that it doesn’t happen. But there is a life off the field and we are ambassadors for our respective countries.
The teams of India and Pakistan will face each other again on Sunday in the Asia Cup.
Gambhir’s gesture in the India-Pakistan match
Two days ago, a video of Gautam Gambhir went viral on social media. It is believed that this video is from during the Asia Cup match.
In the video, the crowd can be seen chanting in favor of Kohli, and Gautam Gambhir waving his middle finger in the air as he passes by.
Showing someone the middle finger is considered very bad, it is considered an obscene act. Gautam Gambhir was criticized for this video.
After this criticism, Gautam Gambhir in a conversation with the media claimed that there is no truth in what is being shown on social media. People show what they want to show.
Gautam Gambhir claims in the viral video that ‘the truth is that if someone raises anti-Indian slogans and talks about Kashmir, the person in front of you will obviously react.
He won’t just smile and walk away. There were two or three Pakistanis who were talking about anti-India and Kashmir. In such a case, this was my natural reaction. I cannot listen to anything against my country. I am not even that kind of person.
The past of Kohli and Gambhir’s relationship
Gautam Gambhir’s relationship with Virat Kohli is often discussed. In May this year, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli’s heated exchange in the IPL match between Bangalore and Lucknow made a lot of headlines.
After the match that day, there was an angry exchange of words between Bangalore player Virat Kohli and Lucknow mentor Gautam Gambhir.
The two were separated from each other by other players in the team and were also fined by the IPL.
Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir have a long history of on-field clashes.
The first major clash between these two players was seen in the 2013 IPL when Kohli was the captain of Bangalore and Gambhir was leading Kolkata.
During the match, there was an argument between the two and both of them pushed each other.
In 2016, Kolkata scored 183 runs against Bangalore but still lost the match by 9 wickets. Kohli was in great form this season and scored over 900 runs.
During the 19th over of this match, Gautam Gambhir got so frustrated that even after the run was completed, he hit the ball towards the non-striker where Virat Kohli was standing.
Once again there was an argument between the two. During this entire match, the players of both teams played well against each other.
