Gautam Gambhir has no personality, claims Shahid Afridi
Gautam Gambhir's aggressive nature on the cricket field, especially against Pakistan, has earned special mention by former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi in his memoir titled Gamechanger.
Gautam Gambhir's cut-throat competitive attitude finds a place in Afridi's memoir, but is not articulated in the prettiest of manners. Afridi claims that the attitudes of Gambhir as well as the legendary Shane Warne were a perpetual problem, but that he eventually enjoyed playing against both of them because of how they reacted to sledging.
Afridi talked about the multiple issues which the former Indian opener had while playing against Pakistan. According to him, Gambhir had no personality whatsoever and was a man of big words without any performances.
Afridi went even further and said Gambhir thought of himself as nothing less than Don Bradman on the field and James Bond off it.
“(Gautam Gambhir) 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. He, who behaves like he’s a cross between Don Bradman and James Bond.”
'Gautam Gambhir and I had a frank discussion about each other’s female relative'
Gautam Gambhir and Shahid Afridi have been involved in numerous spats on and off the field. The two cricketers have taken digs at each other publicly time and again.
Afridi's autobiography was released in both India and Pakistan last year,and in it he spoke candidly about the on-field spats that even involved discussing their female relatives. Afridi claimed that Gambhir never moved on from the on-field altercation that took place in a 2007 ODI in India.
Afridi wrote:
"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 relative."
Gambhir, who has now entered the political realm, hasn't yet responded to Afridi's claims. It will be interesting to see whether the firebrand cricketer takes it in his stride, or comes up with a stinging reply.