Afridi politicised the toss: Gambhir recalls ex-Pakistan skipper's controversial remark during 2011

[Ashmal]

This midget Gambhir is one of the most insecure person ever....still obsessed with Afridi even after 14 years...lol

 

[Bilal7]

The angry, little troll that is Gambhir is easily the cricketer I dislike the most. Always angry, always idiotic, this guy was a BJP goon before the BJP was formed.

 

[NishanKonar]

Never said Afridi “only” performed in the final. My point was that Afridi won only one World Cup and it was the smaller one.

He had a chance to win the proper World Cup but he got out on a tame full toss in Mohali while Gambhir went on to play a great knock in the final.

Giving Afridi the player of the tournament award in 2007 WT20 was a bigger joke than giving Williamson the player of the tournament award in the 2019 World Cup.

There were far better and more impactful players than Afridi in that WT20. Heck, he wasn’t even Pakistan’s best player of the tournament. The ICC and whoever decided to give him the award in charity had lost their marbles.

I don’t hate Afridi. I am indifferent towards him. I don’t know how Indians feel about him because you will have to ask an Indian for that, but I cannot imagine that they would resent him because of his performances vs India.

Sure, he had some big moments against India, but they also gave Afridi plenty of misery over the course of his career including the Mohali semifinal when he went home crying in the semifinal, while Afridi went on to win the World Cup.

Not to mention the trademark 0 (1) in the WT20 2007 final.

As an Indian , I can answer this

Most cricket fans in India really don't think so much about Afridi. They saw him a big hitting batsman who could hit lots of sixes but was very inconsistent & often got out cheaply

This whole idea that Indians hate Afridi bcoz he hit some big knocks against us is ludicrous. Firstly , Afridi was not really a big nuisance for India ( unlike say Saeed Anwar ). He only had a handful of good performances against India in his 20 year old career

Secondly Indians generally have huge respect for those who do well against us - 1 reason Wasim Akram is more popular in India than say Waqar Younis. Same reason Murali , ABD, Dale Steyn, McGrath , Imran Khan , Miandad are so highly respected. But Afridi no way. He is seen more of a big hitter with no brains

ps: Indians appreciate good batsmen with proper technique more - like Babar Azam is actually very highly rated in India

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.newindianexpress.com/sport/cricket/2021/feb/26/cricket-a-very-small-thinglife-of-soldiers-more-important-gambhir-on-ties-with-pakistan-2269401.html

Former India opener and BJP MP Gautam Gambhir on Friday said that there should not be any relation with Pakistan till cross-border terrorism gets over.

Global terror financing watchdog, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Thursday retained Pakistan on its "grey list" till June after concluding that Islamabad failed to address its strategically important deficiencies, to fully implement the 27-point action plan that the watchdog had drawn up for Pakistan.

"Till the time cross border terrorism does not get over, I don't think there should be any kind of relationship with Pakistan because the life of our soldiers is more important than anything," Gambhir told ANI.

When asked about the sporting ties with the neighbouring country, Gambhir reiterated that the "life of our soldiers is more important" and said: "Cricket is a very small thing and the life of our soldiers is more important. So, till the time cross-border terrorism does not get over, there should not be any relationship with Pakistan."

Riding on brilliant spells of spin bowling from Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin, India registered a comprehensive 10-wicket win over England in the pink-ball Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday to go 2-1 up in the four-match series.

Some former cricketers like Michael Vaughan had criticised the pitch. "Let's be honest this is not a 5 day Test pitch !! #INDvENG," Vaughan had tweeted.

When asked about the Motera pitch, Gambhir said: "It is a matter for ICC to look into. I do not want to comment on that. I think England batsmen should look at their techniques."

 

[leg-side-flick]

I make it easy for you! you dont mix politics with cricket but guess which country / board mixed politics with cricket first and got this all started in cricket?

I will make it easy for you, Pakistan started it first, India is finishing it off

 

[MenInG]

Fast forward to 2023....


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The big-hearted Shahid Afridi checking if Gautam Gambhir was ok after the ball struck him on the helmet whilst batting <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LegendsLeagueCricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LegendsLeagueCricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/pNI8W0wcUL">pic.twitter.com/pNI8W0wcUL</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1634459985353515008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[gazza619]

Pakistanis are a different breed and can be pretty laid back and easy going even with their rivals.

Gautham clearly looks out of his comfort zone here.

 

[Rajdeep]

Pakistanis are a different breed and can be pretty laid back and easy going even with their rivals.

Gautham clearly looks out of his comfort zone here.

Its called being soft rather than laid back. Afridi when in India during 2016 WT20 had said he gets more love in India than in Pakistan. Then when he went back he said 'we have bigger heart than them'

Not sure how can such a person be taken seriously.

Gambhir has a view point, right or wrong thats another story but he sticks to it irrespective of situation.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Its called being soft rather than laid back. Afridi when in India during 2016 WT20 had said he gets more love in India than in Pakistan. Then when he went back he said 'we have bigger heart than them'

Not sure how can such a person be taken seriously.

Gambhir has a view point, right or wrong thats another story but he sticks to it irrespective of situation.

This. Afridi is laidback because he just doesn't care. Lala does not stand for any principles consistently. He's an emotional guy who says what he feels and keeps changing his stances.

Not hard to be easy going and laid back when you have scammed a 20 year international career despite being bog average. Gambhir stands for something atleast regardless of whether that's right or wrong.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

This. Afridi is laidback because he just doesn't care. Lala does not stand for any principles consistently. He's an emotional guy who says what he feels and keeps changing his stances.

Not hard to be easy going and laid back when you have scammed a 20 year international career despite being bog average. Gambhir stands for something atleast regardless of whether that's right or wrong.

What does Gambhir stand for?

 

[Nikhil_cric]

What does Gambhir stand for?

He's a right wing nationalist. And he's pretty consistent with his views. Like I said, you can dislike him and his views but man atleast is consistent about that. Unlike Afridi.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

He's a right wing nationalist. And he's pretty consistent with his views. Like I said, you can dislike him and his views but man atleast is consistent about that. Unlike Afridi.

Afridi fronts a charity to promote education in the country and works with unicef for polio eradication in Pakistan.

If we were to compare the silly statements made by either they wouldn't be far apart. I'm not sure why are you writing Afridi off so casually here even going to the extent of ridiculing his career.

Afridi is a finally now sensible man looking to do good. Gambhir is full of hatred and venom.

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Its called being soft rather than laid back. Afridi when in India during 2016 WT20 had said he gets more love in India than in Pakistan. Then when he went back he said 'we have bigger heart than them'

Not sure how can such a person be taken seriously.

Gambhir has a view point, right or wrong thats another story but he sticks to it irrespective of situation.

I take it you were living under a rock when Afridi thanked the Kashmiri’s for supporting Pak at the WT20 in India. If anyone’s soft, it’s Gambhir who couldn’t even look into Afridi’s eyes…he stayed quiet and wouldn’t dare to say anything about Afridi in his presence. He’s a perfect definition of a keyboard warrior.