03 May,2019 10:07 PM IST | | PTI
Gautam Gambhir
In his just-released autobiography 'Game Changer', Afridi launched a scathing attack on Gambhir, some of which termed out to be factually incorrect.
"Some rivalries were personal, some professional. First the curious case of Gambhir. Oh poor Gautam. He & his attitude problem. He 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," writes Afridi.
Gambhir played 58 Tests, 147 ODIs and 37 T20 Internationals scoring more than 10,000 international runs across formats. Afridi played 398 ODIs for Pakistan with a lot of matches as an opener but the average despite 8000 plus runs stand at less than 24 compared to Gambhir close to 40. In Tests, Gambhir has an average of close to 42 compared to Afridi's 27 plus.
In fact, Gambhir was the top scorer with 75 against Pakistan in the 2007 World T20 final. He retired from all forms of cricket in December last year.
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However, that didn't stop Afridi from taking a sarcastic dig at Gambhir. "Gambhir behaves like he's a cross between Don Bradman & James Bond. In Karachi, we call guys like him saryal (grumpy). It's simple, I like happy, positive people. Doesn't matter if they are aggressive or competitive, but you have to be positive & Gambhir wasn't," he writes.
Afridi, who also reveals his real age in the book making him five years older than what the official records state, recollected the infamous heated exchange with Gambhir during an Asia Cup game when they nearly came to blows.
"I remember the run-in with Gambhir during the 2007 Asia Cup, when he completed his single while running straight into me. The umpires had to finish it off or I would have. Clearly, we had a frank bilateral discussion about each other's female relatives," Afridi recalled the uncharitable verbal exchange.
Afridi featured in 27 Tests, 398 ODIs and 99 T20 Internationals. He retired from international cricket after the 2016 World T20 in India. Gambhir on his part refused to comment on Afridi's book.
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